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{The  Light  of  Translation  and  Eeprodudion  is  Eeserved.] 


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FiiciM   IlDiiKin-  Wmn.'s  PKMir.  iJu.vwiNt 
.(.'rucliuiixlefullfclioii   liiilisli  Museum). 


JOHN    BUNYAN 


EIS  LIFE  TIMES  AND    WORK 


BY 


JOHN  BROWN  B.A.,   D.D. 

MINISTER  OF  THE  CHURCH   AT   BUNYAN   MEETING    BEDFORD 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIOXS  BY  WHYMPER 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 

nouonTON,  mifflin  and  co^ipany 

1888 


PREFACE. 


Evert  aiitlior  has,  of  course,  a  more  or  less  sufficient 
reason  for  sending  forth  his  book  to  the  world.  If  I 
honestly  gave  mine  I  should  say  that  in  the  first  instance 
I  drifted  into  its  production  by  force  of  circumstances 
rather  than  set  it  before  myself  of  deliberate  choice. 

As  the  minister  for  more  than  twenty  years  of  the 
church  of  which  Bunyan  also  was  minister,  and  as  the 
official  guardian  of  such  personal  relics  and  memorials  of 
liim  as  remain  to  us,  I  have  necessarily  been  brought  into 
intercourse  with  the  yearly  increasing  stream  of  visitors 
who,  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  come  to  Bedford  and 
Elstow  to  see  for  themselves  the  scenes  and  associations 
of  Bunyan's  life.  I  have  found  from  a  somewhat  wide 
observation  that,  more  than  most  writers,  ho  has  not 
only  secured  the  intellectual  interest  of  his  readers,  but 
also  their  personal  affection  ;  and  that  everything  relating 
to  him  tliat  can  be  reliably  told  is  matter  of  unfailing 
interest  to  minds  tin;  most  diverse.  Innumerable 
questions  from  others,  therefore,  first  sent  me  forth  on 
researches  of  my  own,  and,  as  a  relaxation  from  tho 
more  serious  duti(!S  of  my  ministry,  tliis  work  became  to 
mc  one  of  the  pleasures  of  my  life. 


vi  PREFACE. 

I  send  the  result  forth  now  in  the  hope  that  others 
may  share  this  pleasure  with  me,  and  under  the  convic- 
tion that,  notwithstanding  the  many  lives  of  Bunyan 
that  have  appeared,  there  is  still  room,  and  even  need, 
for  one  that  should  aim  at  strictest  accuracy,  and  bring  up 
to  present  date  all  that  can  be  known  concerning  him. 

My  long  residence  among  the  scenes  and  surroundings 
of  Bunyan's  life  has  given  me  some  advantage  over 
previous  biographers,  who  were  only  able  to  make  occa- 
sional visits  to  the  neighbourhood.  I  have  had,  how- 
ever, still  greater  advantage  in  the  fact  that  recent  years 
have  made  available,  for  purposes  of  local  and  personal 
history,  resources  till  quite  lately  unknown  or  inacces- 
sible to  the  historical  student.  For  the  purpose  of  this 
biography  researches  have  been  made  among  the  stores 
brought  to  light  by  the  Eoyal  Commission  on  Historical 
Manuscripts.  Through  the  labours  of  the  gentlemen 
who  have  acted  as  inspectors  under  that  commission, 
there  have  been  found  among  the  MSS.  of  the  House  of 
Lords  and  in  the  numerous  private  collections  scattered 
through  the  country,  documents  which  have  supplied 
missing  links  in  our  history,  and  made  more  vivid  to  us 
the  story  of  the  past.  The  papers  relating  to  the  diocese 
of  Lincoln,  in  the  Archbishop's  Library  at  Lambeth,  I 
have  also  found  to  be  of  considerable  interest  and  value. 
I  have,  of  course,  availed  myself  of  the  iDriceless  stores 
garnered  up  among  the  State  Papers  at  the  Eecord 
Office,  and  among  the  steadily  accumulating  materials 
in  the  manuscript  and  printed  book  departments  of  the 
British  Museum.  I  have  also  found  great  help  from  the 
collections  in  the  Bodleian,  in  the  University  Library  at 


PREFACE.  vii 

Cambridge,  and  in  Dr.  "Williams'  Library  in  London. 
Among  resources  of  a  more  local  kind  I  have  found  the 
most  valuable  assistance  from  the  Transcript  Eegisters 
and  Act-Books  of  the  Archdeaconry  of  Bedford,  the 
^liuute-Books  and  other  documents  in  the  Archives  of 
the  Bedford  Corporation,  and  the  Bedfordshire  wills  pre- 
served in  the  district  registry  of  the  Court  of  Probate  at 
Xorthampton. 

In  addition  to  these  materials  of  a  more  public  and 
national  character  the  records  of  the  church  at  Bedford, 
with  which  Bunyan  was  so  long  associated,  have  for  the 
first  time  been  woven  into  the  story  of  his  life  ;  and  for 
the  first  time,  also,  his  general  works  have  been  placed 
in  due  order  and  chronological  relation  to  his  personal 
history.  On  this  latter  point  it  may  be  well  to  say,  that 
as  during  the  sixty  years  of  Bunyan's  life  he  wrote 
something  lilvc  sixty  books,  the  account  of  most  of  these 
had  necessarily  to  come  within  limited  space.  I  have, 
therefore,  sought  to  give  not  so  much  an  abstract  or 
general  estimate  as  to  bring  together  whatever  was  most 
characteristic  of  his  special  genius  and  cast  of  mind. 

In  the  course  of  these  researches  I  have  always  found 
the  name  of  Bunyan  a  certain  spell  with  which  to  divine, 
and  I  have  most  gratefully  to  record  the  readiness  on  all 
hands  to  afford  me  the  most  kindly  hel})  in  the  further- 
ance of  my  enterprise.  Where  so  many  have  been  kind 
it  seems  invidious  to  mak(5  selection  for  special  acknow- 
ledgment, yet  I  feel  I  must  express  my  personal  thanks 
to  Archdeacon  ]jatliurst  for  ready  access,  readily 
granted,    to    the   documents    in    the   Archives   oi    his 


VIU 


PREFA  CE. 


registry,  also  iox  important  references  or  suggestions, 
and  sometimes  both,  to  the  Ecv.  S.  E.  Wigram,  author 
of  "  The  Chronicles  of  the  Abbey  of  Elstow ;  "  to  Henry 
Gough,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  of  Eeclhill;  to  Edward  Arber,  Esq., 
E.S.A.,  Professor  of  English  Language  and  Literature, 
Sir  Josiah  Mason's  College,  Bii'raingham  ;  to  Edward 
Peacock,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  of  Bottesford  Manor,  Brigg ;  to 
T.  Allanson  Picton,  Esq.,  M.P. ;  and  to  J.  E.  Bailey, 
Esq.,  E.S.A.,  of  Manchester. 

Finally,  I  wish  to  acknowledge  the  sympathetic  zeal 
with  which  Mr.  Edward  Whymper  has  undertaken  the 
work  of  illustration.  The  choice  of  subjects  has  been  made 
in  great  measure  on  his  suggestion ;  and  the  sketches, 
taken  by  him  on  the  spot,  of  places  and  buildings  asso- 
ciated with  memories  of  Bunyan  will  perhaps  do  more 
than  is  possible  by  any  verbal  descriptions  to  give  local 
colouring  to  the  narrative.  It  is  hoped  also  that  the  value 
of  this  work  will  be  increased  by  his  careful  reproduction 
of  the  Portrait  of  Bunyan,  taken  on  vellum,  by  Eobcrt 
White,  which  was  preserved  in  the  Cracherode  Collec- 
tion, and  which  forms  the  frontispiece  to  this  volume. 

JOnN  BEOW^. 


The  Manse,  Bedford, 
October  lit/i,  1885. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION. 


Ix  this  edition,  as  in  the  second,  I  have  to  make  grateful 
acknowledgment  of  the  kind  reception  accorded  to  this 
my  endeavour  to  reproduce  the  facts  of  Bnnyan's  life. 
It  has  been  gratifying,  indeed,  to  receive  from  many, 
both  in  this  country  and  in  the  United  States,  the 
assurance  that  this,  the  latest  biography  of  the  great 
dreamer,  has  met  and  supplied  a  felt  want  in  our  litera- 
ture. It  is  sent  forth  in  its  present  form  without  any 
change,  except  such  as  was  required  in  bringing  up  the 
bibliographical  appendices  to  the  latest  date. 

When  two  years  ago  I  ventured  in  the  first  edition 
of  this  biogi-aphy  (pp.  253 — 202)  to  put  forth  -a  theory 
of  Tiiy  (nvn  as  to  the  time  of  liunyan's  later  imprison- 
ment, and  to  express  my  belief  that  lie  was  arrested 
for  the  third  time  in  1G75,  I  little  thought  that  tliis 
supposition  of  mine  wouhl  so  soon  receive  complete 
confirmation.  Yet  such  is  the  fact.  A  few  weeks  ago, 
when  the  Chauncy  Collection  of  Autograplis  came  to 
tlie  hammer  at  Messrs.  Sotheby's,  the  original  warrant 
for  his  apprehension  was  found  to  be  among  them.  It 
is  signed  by  no  fewer  than  thirteen  Bedfordsliire  justices. 


X  PREFACE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION. 

ten  out  of  the  thirteen  adding  their  seals  as  well  as 
their  signatures,  and  is  as  follows  : — 

TO  'J  HE  CONSTABLES  OF  BEDFORD  AXD  TO  EVEEY 

OF  THEM. 

J.  Napier  Whereas  information  and  complaint  is  made  unto  us  that 

(l.s.)  (notwithstanding  the  Kings  Maj"**^  late  Act  of  most  gracious 

generall  and  free  pardon  to  all  his  subjects  for  past  mis- 
demeanours, that  by  his  said  clemencie  and  indulgent  grace 
and  favour  they  might  bee  mooved  and  induced  for  the  time 

W.  Beechek         to   come  more  carefully  to   observe  his  Highenes  lawes  and 

(l.s.)  statutes,  and  to  continue  in  theire  loyall  and  due  obedience  to 

his  Majiie),    yett   one  John    Bunnyon  of    your  said  towne, 

(l.s.)  Tynker,    hath   divers   times  within   one   month  last  past  in 

G.  Blundell  contempt  of  his  Majt'^^  good  laws  preached   or  teached  at  a 

Conventicle  meeteing  or  assembly  under  colour  or  pretence  of 
exercise   of  Religion  in   other  manner  then  according  to  the 

IT  \\    .  Liturgie  or  Practise  of  the  Church  of  England.      These  are 

therefore  in  his  Maj''^^  name  to  comand  you  forthwith  to 
apprehend  and  bring  the   Body  of  the  said   John   Bunnion 

Will  :  Franklin  ^ggf^^,g  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^  ^^  ^^^^^^  j^j^  jj^j ties  justice  of  Peace 

within  the  said  county  to  answer  the  premises  and  further  to 
doe  and  receave  as  to  Law  and  Justice  shall  appertaine,  and 
hereof  you  are  not  to  faUe.  Given  our  handes  and  scales  the 
ffowerth  day  of  March  in  the  seaven  and  twentieth  yeare  of  the 
Paigne  of  our  most  gracious  Soveraigne  Lord  King  Charles 
the   Second,  A"  q"i  D'"  juxta  gr:    1674.     [New  Style  1G75.] 

John  Yenteiss  ^'^^^^•-  Spencee 

(l.s.)  Will:  Geey   St:  Jo:  Ciieenocke  (l.s.)  W*^'  Damell  (l.s.) 

(l.s.)  T.  Browne    Gaius  Squiee      W.  ffostee  (l.s.) 

This  document  was  purchased  by  W.  G.  Thorpe,  Esq., 
F.G.S.  of  the  Middle  Temple,  to  whose  kindness,  in  first 
sending  me  a  copy  and  afterwards  furnishing  me  with 
every  opportunity  of  making  a  personal  examination,  I 
desu'e  to  bear  grateful  testimony.  The  document  is 
undoubtedly  genuine.  To  those  familiar  with  seven- 
teenth century  MSS.,  the  paper  and  handwriting  are 
evidence  sufficient  of  this.  In  addition,  Mr.  Thompson, 
head  of  the  department  of  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum, 
has  verified  several  of  the  seals  with  the  coats  of  arms  of 


PREFA  CE  TO  TUE  TIIIRT)  EDITION.  xi 

the  justices,  and  I  have  myself  iudcpendeut  evidence 
bearing  on  the  genuineness  of  some  of  the  signatures. 
The  magistrates  signing  ^Yere :  Sir  John  Xapier  of 
Luton  Hoo,  Sir  William  Beecher  uf  Ilowbury,  Sir 
George  Blundell  of  Cardington,  these  two  being  also 
upon  the  bench  at  Bunyan's  first  conviction  in  ICGl ; 
Sir  Ilumphrey  Monoux  of  Wootton,  Sir  William 
Franklin  of  Bolnhurst,  Mr.  Yentriss  of  Campton, 
Mr.  Spencer  of  Cople,  Mr.  Gery  of  Bushmeade,  Sir 
St.  John  Chernocke  of  Hulcote,  Mr.  Daniell  of  Silsoe, 
Mr.  Browne  of  Arlesey,  Mr.  Squier  of  Eaton  Socon, 
and  Dr.  Foster  of  Bedford. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  there  was  a  formidable  and 
unusual  list  of  names  to  the  warrant,  and  Bunyan  was 
evidently  regarded  as  an  offender  to  be  secured  by  the 
strongest  exercise  of  authority.  Foster,  whom  Bunyan 
had  met  at  the  time  of  his  first  arrest  in  IGGO,  whom  he 
then  described  as  "  a  right  Judas,"  and  who,  as  this 
work  shows,  pursued  the  IS'onconformists  with  relentless 
malignity  through  all  the  intervening  years,  was  almost 
certainly  the  main  mover  in  the  matter.  The  document 
was  evidently  prepared  beforehand  by  a  professional 
scrivener,  probably  one  of  Foster's  own  clerks,  and  was 
ready  to  be  signed  and  sealed  when  the  Justices  met  for 
Quarter  Sessions  at  Bedford.  Foster  was  in  hot  haste  ; 
for  the  King's  proclamation  recalling  tlie  preachers' 
licences  was  only  signed  on  the  ord  of  February.  It 
would  be  the  4th  before  it  was  known  in  London,  and 
probably  the  Gth  before  it  reached  Bedford.  The  montli 
therefore!  mentioned  in  this  warrant  signed  on  the  llh 


xii  PREFACE  TO  THE  TEIRB  EDITION. 

of  March,  was  a  short  month  indeed.  Eunyan,  as  a 
marked  man  and  an  old  offender,  was  probably  on  his 
arrest  committed  for  trial,  he  being  held  to  bail,  and  the 
trial  coming  on  at  the  following  Quarter  Sessions. 
Various  considerations,  such  as  the  date  of  the  publica- 
tion of  "The  Pilgrim's  Progress ; "  the  tardy  and  circuitous 
interference  on  his  behalf  by  Eishop  Barlow,  who  was 
not  consecrated  till  the  end  of  June  ;  and  the  condition 
of  Bedford  Gaol  in  the  early  months  of  1675,  all  point 
to  the  latter  half  of  that  year  as  the  time  of  his  six 
months'  imprisonment  after  conviction.  It  may  be 
indeed  that  it  was  in  prospect  of  such  a  prisoner  as 
Bunyan  that  the  Borough  Council  gave  that  order  for 
the  repairing  of  the  prison  on  the  bridge,  which  was 
passed  on  the  loth  of  May. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  add,  on  the  authority  of  their 
solicitors,  Messrs.  Maples,  Teesdale  &  Co.,  that  it  was 
the  Chauncy  family  who  recently  sold  the  collection  in 
which  this  interesting  document  was  found,  and  that 
that  collection  was  made  in  the  last  century  by  Dr. 
Charles  Chauncy,  a  celebrated  physician  and  antiquary 
(170G — 1777),  and  his  brother  Nathaniel,  who  succeeded 
to  the  collection  and  increased  it.  It  originally  included 
paintings  and  prints,  coins  and  books,  and  among  the 
MSS.  were  many  important  documents,  some  of  them 
bearing  the  autographs  of  Charles  I.,  Oliver  Cromwell, 
Prince  Eupert,  Charles  II.,  "William  III.,  and  various 
eminent  statesmen  and  officials  of  the  17th  century. 

If  I  am  not  prolonging  this  preface  unduly,  it  may  be 
interesting  to  mention  a  reference  to  Bunyan' s  maternal 


PREFACE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDIT/OX.  xili 

grandfather,  AVilliam  13cntley,  recently  met  willi.  In 
the  month  of  November,  188G,  G.  A.  Aitken,  Esq.,  of 
Kensington,  purchased  at  Sotheby's  a  number  of  old 
deeds  principally  relating  to  property  in  Elstow.  IIo 
very  coiu'teously  sent  them  down  to  mo  for  inspection, 
and  in  looking  them  through  I  found  William  Ijcntley's 
signatui'C  as  that  of  a  witness  attesting  a  deed  of  sale 
between  two  inhabitants  of  Elstow,  bearing  date  12tli 
June,  IGll.  This  signature  of  the  father  of  Bunyan's 
mother  is  written  in  a  superior  manner,  and  indicates  an 
amount  of  education  not  common  in  those  days  even 
among  persons  of  good  social  position.  There  was  also 
another  deed  by  which  Thomas  Purney  sold  to  Thomas 
Hoddle,  late  of  Elstowe,  "  All  that  messuage,  tenement, 
or  Inne  called  The  Bell  in  Elstowe,  between  a  tenement 
in  the  tenure  of  William  Beniletj  on  the  south  side  and  a 
tenement  in  the  tenure  of  Widdowe  Eraye  on  the 
north."  This  deed  is  dated  1st  Kovembcr,  1612,  and 
indicates  the  spot  which  was  the  home  of  Eunyan's 
mother  in  the  days  of  her  childhood. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  fain  express  the  hope  that  this 
Life  of  a  brave  and  godly  Englishman  may  further  those 
principles  of  civil  and  religious  freedom  to  which  ho 
bore  such  faithful  testimony,  and  on  behalf  of  Avliich  ho 
suffered  so  much.  Above  all,  it  is  pleasant  to  mo  to 
think  that  renewed  intercourse  with  the  spirit  of  Eunyau 
in  these  pages  may  deepen  the  religious  life  in  the 
liearts  of  some  of  my  readers,  bringing  them  into  a 
closer,  diviner  fellowship  Avith  his  Lord  and  theirs. 

The  Mankk,  BEUFoiiti, 
Octobet-  10//.,  1887. 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

FAOB 

EARLY  CnURCn  LIFE  IN  BEDFORDSHIRE 1 

II. 
ELSTOW  AND  THE  BUNYANS  OF  ELSTOW 17 

ni. 

TFIi:  CIVIL  WA?.S. 39 

IV. 

SPIRITUAL  CONFLICT 53 

V. 
THE  CHURCH  AT  BEDFORD 69 

YI. 
FIVE  YEARS  OP  BEDFORD  LIFE:  lGo5—lC60         .        .        .        .      9G 

VII. 
II ARLINGTON  HOUSE  AND  THE  CIIAREL  OF  HERNE       .        .     IHO 

VIII. 

TWELVE  YEARS  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL ICO 

IX. 

THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  STORM 192 

X. 

THRLE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY:  1C72-1G70 223 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

XI. 

PAGH 

THE  'TILGRDI'S  TROGEESS" ^53 

XII. 

THE   PLACE  OF  THE    "PILGRIM'S   PROGRESS"    IN   LITERA- 
TURE       '^82 

XIII. 

INTERVAL    BETWEEN    THE    "PILGRIM'S    PROGRESS"    AND 

THE  "HOLY  WAR":  1676— 16S2 301 

XIV. 

MANSOUL  AND  THE  BEDFORD  CORPORATION  .    ,   .   .321 

XV. 

IN  THE  REIGN  OF  JAMES  THE  SECOND 345 

XVI. 

BUNYAN'S  LAST  DAYS 371 

XVIL 
BUNYAN'S  DESCENDANTS  AND  SUCCESSORS       .        .        .        .397 

XVIII. 
BUNYAN'S  POSTHUMOUS  PUBLICATIONS 427 

XIX. 

EDITIONS,  VERSIONS,  ILLUSTRATIONS,  AND  IMITATIONS  OF 

THE  "  PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS  " 4o3 

ArPENDICES. 
APPENDIX  I.     CHRONOLOGICAL  LIST  OF  BUNYAN'S  AVORKS    483 

„         ir.     FOREIGN     VERSIONS     OF      THE      PILGRIM'S 

PROGRESS 489 

„       II r.     VERSIONS,  BIOGRAPHIES,  LECTURES         .        .     493 

„       IV.    PERSONAL  RELICS  OF  BUNYAN  .        .        .        .490 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTEATIONS. 


FACE 

1.  PouTRAiT   OF    BuxYAX    (from  .1  drawing  by   EoLtrt  White,  in  the 

Ciiicherode  Collection,  British  Museum)    ....         J'fO)itispiece 

2.  Bedfohd  Tow.v  Gaol  (from  an  old  Print) i 

3.  Elstow  Chiuck           ..........  17 

4.  AVest  View  of  Elstow  Chukcu 19 

;3.  lliLLERSUox  roncu 21 

C.  Moot  Hall  ox   Elstow  Gueex,  the  Coukt-holse  of   the  Maxou.  2o 

7.  Mai"  of  Bedford  axd  Elstow   (showing  Bunyan's  Birthplace)  .         .  29 

5.  Fac-similes  from  the  Elstow  TuAxscuirT  Rehisthis      ...  32 
9.  Elstow  Chvrcii  fuom  the  Auhey  Fishfoxps 37 

10.  BuNYAx's  Cottage  at  Elstow.     (His  place  of  abode  after  his  Mar- 

riage, 1049-1655) 53 

11.  Elstow  Greex Gl 

12.  Belfry  Door,  Elstow 03 

13.  St.  John's  Church,  Beufork 91 

14.  Speed's  Map  of  Bedford  ix  1010 99 

15.  loHX  Blxyax  i'reachixo  IX    fuoxt  of  the  iloTE    Hall,  Bedford, 

Octoher  IS,  1059  (from  an  old  Etching,') 121 

10.  Mat  op  the  District         ........  130 

17.  Site  op   the  Cottage  at  Lower   Samsell   ix  whk  ii   IUxvax  was 

arrested 137 

18.  nAULiNGTON  lIoLSE.     (As  it  apiK'urod  in  the  Seventeenth  Ccnturj)     .  Ml 
10.  The  Chapel  of  Heuxe,   Bedford 119 

20.  Blsyax'h  Chair 2;u 

21.  Blnyax's  Jig 2.')2 

22.  Blnyax's  Caiunet  and  Staff .'IJO 

23.  Buktak's  novsB  IN  St.  Clthheiit's,  Bedford          ....  371 

21.  The  Houhk  ox  Snow   Hill  in  which   Bunyan  died  (from  an  old 

EtchinK; 337 

26.  Buxtam's  Tomr  in  Blnhill  Fields 390 


Bedford  Town  Gaol.     From  nu  old  Print. 


EARLY  CHURCH  LIFE  IX  BEDFORDSHIRE. 


John  Buxvan,  born  in  the  Enj>lish  Midlands,  may  be  taken 
us  in  some  sense  a  characteristic  representative  of  the  region 
that  gave  him  birth.  For-  the  tract  of  country  between  the 
Trent  and  the  Bedfcjrdshire  Ouse,  wliich  from  its  nortliern  half 
gave  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  to  New  England,  furnished  from  its 
fens  and  fields  in  the  soutli  a  succession  of  men  (rf  his  own 
sturdy  independence  of  tliought,  and  in  strong  sympathy  witii 
his  own  Puritan  faith.  In  the  development  of  even  the  most 
original  genius,  the  environment  counts  for  mucli ;  it  may  help 
us,  therefore,  to  a  truer  estimate  of  the  man  if  we  first  briefly 
recall  the  spiritual  antecedents  of  the  county  in  which  he  was 
born  and  in  which  his  life  was  spent. 

When   the  Reforiiwilion  l)roke  in  upon  the  old  ecclesiar.tical 

u 


2  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap  i. 

system  of  England,  Bedfordshire  seems  to  have  been  more  than 
usually  receptive  of  the  new  ideas  then  rising  over  Europe. 
Not  that  the  whole  county,  any  more  than  other  counties,  was 
prepared  to  become  Protestant  at  a  stroke.  Here,  as  elsewhere, 
many  Englishmen,  after  their  manner,  were  inclined  to  "stand 
in  the  ways,  and  see  and  ask  for  the  old  paths."  Leading 
families,  like  the  Mordaunts  of  Turvey,  remained  firm  in  their 
allesriance  to  the  ancient  faith,  and  turned  their  houses  into 
hiding-places  for  its  bishops  and  priests  during  the  hard  days 
of  Elizabeth  and  James.  Not  a  few  of  the  yeomen  also  held 
tenaciously  to  the  old  well-worn  modes  of  religious  thought,  even 
while  diligently  attending  the  services  of  a  Reformed  Church. 
As  late  as  1579,  or  more  than  forty  years  after  England  had 
broken  with  the  See  of  Rome,  farmers  like  Robert  Bony  on,  of 
Wingfield,  in  the  parish  of  Chalgrave,  in  the  wills  they  made, 
still  commended  their  souls  not  only  to  Almighty  God,  but  also 
"  to  our  blessed  Ladie  St.  Mary  and  to  all  the  holy  company  of 
heaven."  *  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  Protestant  vicars  did 
not  always  find  it  easy  to  carry  their  slowly  moving  parishioners 
with  them.  It  was  far  on  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  for 
example,  when  Peter  White,  the  Minister  of  Eaton  Socon, 
having  reconstructed  the  rood-loft  of  his  parish  church,  where 
anciently  stood  the  rood  called  Mary  and  John,  had  in  1581  to 
preach  and  publish  a  "  Godlye  and  fruitefull  sermon  against 
Idolatrie,"  to  quiet  "  the  consciences  of  the  simple."  He  found 
it  needful  to  assure  troubled  souls  among  his  parishioners 
that  the  changes  he  had  made  were  really  very  slight. 
"The  Rood-lofte  wanteth  nothing  of  his  former  state,  but  only 
the  images  and  uppermost  front."  The  loft  itself,  "  being  nine 
foot  in  bredth,  yet  standeth  with  the  beame,"  only  instead  of 
having  "  the  Roode  or  Idoll,"  "  the  Tabernacle  that  sometimes 
stood  upon  the  Altar  is  placed  from  the  beame  aforesaid."  The 
rest  "  remaineth  as  it  did  in  the  time  of  popery."  Even  yet 
they  were  not  altogether  reassured,  and  another  pamphlet 
issued  by  the  vicar  the  following  year,  shows  that  the  feeling 
roused  by  his  Protestant  innovations  was  neither  slight  nor 
soon  allayed. t     Possibly  similar  clashings  of  opinion  disturbed 

♦  Bedfordshire  Wills,  1.076-9,  No.  126. 

t  A  Godhje  and  fruilefull  Sermon  ayaimt  Idolatrie.     Preached  the  xv   daye  of 


loSl.]    EARLY  CEURCE  LIFE  IN  BEDFORDSHIRE.         3 

other  parishes  in  the  county  ;  and  it  is  tolerably  certain  that 
in  the  hearts  of  nianv  there  was  still,  from  old  association,  a 
strong  attachment  to  the  religious  usages  and  superstitions  of 
the  Church,  now  no  longer  the  Church  of  the  State. 

Still,  these  instances  were  exceptional.  The  tradespeople 
in  the  towns,  as  well  as  a  majority  of  the  gentry  in  the  country- 
houses,  were  staunchly  Protestant,  as  were  also  the  two  great 
noblemen,  the  natural  chieftains  of  the  county,  the  Earls  of 
Kent  and  Bedford.  The  county,  indeed,  became  a  recognised 
asylum  of  religious  liberty  for  many  from  across  the  sea. 
Refugees  for  conscience  sake  came  frora  Aioncon  and  Valen- 
ciennes, and  settled  at  Cranfield  in  1568,  bringing  with  them 
their  lace  pillows,  and  establishing  the  lace  trade  of  the 
district.  And  while  many  Protestants  from  the  Netherlands, 
fleeing  from  Philip  of  Spain  and  the  Duke  of  Alva,  thus 
found  a  home  in  the  villages  of  Bedfordshire,  introducing 
names  still  to  be  recognised  in  the  parish  registers,  collections 
were  also  made  in  the  churches  of  the  county  for  others  still  in 
their  own  land,  and  still  suffering  cruel  hardships  on  account 
of  their  faith. 

Both  before  the  Reformation  and  for  a  century  after  we  get 
what  is  probably  the  most  realistic  view  possible  to  us  now,  of 
the  ecclesiastical  life  of  the  people  of  England,  from  a  source 
hitherto  comparativel}'  neglected,  the  "  Act-Books "  of  the 
Archdeacons'  Courts.  From  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century 
certainly,  and  probably  much  earlier,  with  the  exception  of  the 
brief  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  down  to  the  year  1G40,  when  the 
procedure  known  as  ex  officio  was  abolished,  there  was  kept  up 
u  close  surveillance  of  the  lives  of  the  people  in  each  parish  of 
each  of  the  deaneries  of  which  the  arclideacunr}''  was  composed. 
These  Courts,  which  were  regularly  held,  took  cognisance  of 
every  conceivable  offence  against  morals  as  well  as  against  eccle- 
Niastical  discipline.  The  form  of  j)rocedure  was  either  by 
Inquijiition,   when   the  judge   was   tlie  accuser;  by  Accusation, 

lanunrio,  1681,  in  the  Parrisho  Cliurch  of  Eiiton  Sookon,  within  the  Countio  of 
Hedforde,  by  V.  W.,  MiniHtor  und  Preacher  in  that  place.  At  London  luiprinttd 
by  FruunciM  Coldocke,  I08I,  8vo.  [black  letter]. 

An  Aumteare  viito  certaine  cra'ihcd  Qucntiuwi,  pretending  a  real  presence  of 
Christ  in  the  Sacramento.  Gathered  &  set  foorth  by  Peter  Whyto.  Loudon, 
Imprinted  by  John  Wolfe  and  Henry  Kirkliam,  16H2. 

Il2 


4  JOSN  BUN Y AN.  [chap.  i. 

when  some  other  person  made  the  charge;  or  by  Denuncia- 
tion, which  was  simple  presentment.  The  most  frequent  penalty 
on  conviction  was  a  money  fine,  but  in  many  cases  the  culprit 
had  to  do  penance  in  a  white  sheet,  or  make  public  confession 
before  a  congregation  of  his  neighbours.  More  serious  ofiences 
were  followed  by  excommunication,  a  penalty  carrying  with  it 
social  consequences  of  the  gravest  kind.  For  example,  from 
the  Act-Books  of  the  Bedford  Archdeaconry,  we  find  that  in 
1617,  William  "Worrall  of  Kempston  was  cited  before  the 
Court  at  Ampthill  for  buying  and  selling  with  Thomas  Crawley, 
which  he  ought  not  to  have  done  because  Thomas  Crawley  was 
an  excommunicate  person.  The  same  year  John  Glidall,  fuller, 
of  Craufield,  and  Francis  Crashop,  were  cited  and  fined,  "  for 
setting  Kichard  Barrett,  an  excommunicate  person,  a  work." 
Even  love  must  be  crossed  and  courtship  forbidden  till  the 
Church  was  reconciled.  In  1616  Roger  Perriam,  of  St.  Cuth- 
berts,  Bedford,  was  cited,  "  for  that  there  is  a  report  that  he 
doth  frequent  and  keep  company  with  Margarett  Bennett,  who 
standeth  excommunicate."  If  an  excommunicated  person  ven- 
tured to  appear  among  his  neighbours  in  the  parish  church,  the 
minister  was  compelled  to  call  public  attention  to  his  presence, 
and  absolutely  stop  the  service  till  the  proscribed  person  had 
left  the  building.  Indeed,  the  consequences  which  followed  a 
man  through  life  did  not  even  cease  with  his  death.  Hobert 
Baker,  the  parish  clerk  of  Potton,  was  punished  for  burying 
the  body  of  an  excommunicate  person  in  the  churchyard  ;  and 
some  years  later  Anne  Skevington  of  Turvey  was  herself 
excommunicated  because  that,  in  widowed  grief,  she  had  been 
present  at  the  burial  of  her  own  husband,  who  for  his  noncon- 
formity had  died  under  the  ban  of  the  Church. 

It  lies  outside  the  range  of  our  present  purpose,  of  course, 
but  it  would  be  interesting  to  show  what  curious  light  the 
records  of  the  various  Archdeacons'  Courts  throw  on  the  morals 
and  manners  of  our  forefathers.  A  large  proportion  were  cases 
of  intemperance  and  impurity.  Among  the  ecclesiastical  offences 
were  such  as  refusing  to  follow  the  cross  in  procession,  hanging 
down  the  head  at  the  elevation  of  the  host,  throwing  the  pax- 
bread  on  the  ground,  separating  the  holy  oil,  washing  hands  in 
the  baptismal  font,  singing  the  Litany  derisively,  refusing  to 


1500.]      EARLY  CnURCH  LIFK  IN  BEDFORDSHIRE.         5 

pay  dues  and  keep  feast  days,  reading  heretical  and  English 
books  during  the  mass,  not  receiving  ashes  on  Ash  Wednesday, 
and  not  confessing  at  Easter.  Among  offences  of  a  more  mis- 
cellaneous character,  we  find  one  man  bringing  judgment  upon 
himself  for  "  marieing  his  wife  in  their  parish  church  in  her 
mask  ;"  another  "  for  being  married  to  his  wife  under  a  bush ;" 
and  yet  a  third,  "  for  that  the  day  he  was  marrycd  he  dyd 
blowe  oute  the  lightes  about  the  altar  and  woldc  suffer  no 
lightes  to  bourne."  One  unloving  spirit  was  dealt  with  "  for 
not  treating  his  wife  with  affection  ;  "  another,  yet  more  un- 
loving, "  for  cheening  his  wife  to  a  post  and  slandering  his 
neighbours."  People  offended  by  "  exercising  the  magic  art," 
by  consulting  cunning  women,  by  using  private  conventicles, 
and  by  "  hiring  foreigners  to  work  at  their  art."  It  was  an 
offence  also  not  to  "  make  two  torches  and  keep  the  drynk- 
ynge  in  the  parish,  according  to  the  laudable  use  and  custom  ; " 
and  a  shoemaker  was  punished,  for  that  he  "  kepeth  his  bedd 
upon  the  Sundaies  and  other  holy  days  at  time  of  mattens  and 
mass,  as  it  were  a  hownde  that  shuld  kepe  his  kenell."  One 
man  came  into  trouble  for  "  folding  some  sheep  in  the  church 
during  a  snow  storm  ;  "  and  another,  for  "living  in  the  church- 
porch,  and  suffering  his  wife  to  travail  in  childbirth  there  and 
to  continue  there  her  whole  moncth."  Women  fell  under  the 
judgment  of  the  Court  for  "coming  to  be  churched  without 
kercher,  midwife  or  wy ves  ;  "  or  not  "as  other  honest  women, 
but  comynge  in  her  hatt,  and  a  quarter  about  her  neck  ;  "  or 
for  "  not  coming  in  a  vaile  ;  "  and  one  brisk  housewife,  striking 
out  a  bright  idea  on  a  rainy  day,  found  to  her  cost  that  she  had 
offended  by  "  hanginge  her  lynnen  in  the  church  to  dry." 

The  law  was  administered  with  even-handed  justice  against 
the  officials  of  the  parish  as  well  as  against  the  common  people. 
The  clergy  were  cited  for  "not  sprinkling  holy  water  on  the 
parishioners,"  for  "letting  divers  die  without  howsill  or  shriite 
throw  his  defaute ;  "  for  "  refusing  to  reply  to  the  archdeacon 
in  the  lioman  tongue;"  for  refusing  to  hear  confessions, 
"  because  it  grieves  liiin  to  hearo  the  confessions  made."  One 
rector  went  (juite  wrong  by  "  taking  upon  himself  to  the 
8cundal  of  his  calling,  to  be  lord  of  misrule  at  Christmas  among 
certein    yong.'linges,"  and   aiiothfj-  bv  having  some  ecclesius- 


6  JOHN  BITNYAN.  [chap.  i. 

tical  ceremony  to  be  present  at  the  more  exciting  spectacle  of 
an  execution.  The  churchwardens  incurred  penalty  by  "  suf- 
fering unrulie  persons  to  ring  and  jingle  the  bells  out  of  due 
season,"  by  permitting  a  minstrel  to  play  in  church  at  a  wed- 
ding, and  because  the  white  sheet  ased  for  penance  was  missing. 
The  schoolmaster  was  fined  for  teaching  children  above  sixteen 
years  of  age  without  licence,  or  for  "  being  negligent  in  his 
place,  his  schollers  not  profiting  under  him."  And,  finally, 
that  chartered  libertine,  the  parish  clerk,  was  dealt  with  sum- 
marily, and  surely  most  righteously,  "  for  that  he  singeth  the 
psalmes  in  the  church  with  such  a  jesticulous  tone  and  altito- 
nant  voyce,  viz.  squeaking  like  a  pigg,  which  doth  not  only 
interrupt  the  other  voyces,  but  is  altogether  dissonant  and  dis- 
agreeing unto  any  musicall  harmonic."  * 

Some  of  the  citations  in  the  Act-Books  of  the  Court  of  the 
Archdeaconry  of  Bedford  relate  to  Puritan  scruples  on  the  part 
of  several  of  the  clergy  of  the  county.  For  example,  in  1601, 
Caesar  Walpole,  curate  of  Woburn,  and  in  1617,  William 
Moore,  minister  of  Sharnbrook,  Oliver  Roberts,  vicar  of  Gold- 
ington,  and  Christopher  AVatson,  curate  of  Pertenhall,  were 
cited  for  "not  wearing  the  surplisse  usuallie,"  or  for  "  wanting 
a  hoode,"  or  for  not  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism,  or 
for  not  reading  prayers  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays.  It  is 
usually  assumed  that  the  Puritan  party  were  the  only  strict 
Sabbatarians  in  the  country ;  but  in  Bedfordshire,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  same  court  and  the  same  commissary  dealing  with 
the  ministers  just  named  for  Puritanism,  enforced  also  upon 
the  laity  the  strictest  observance  of  the  Sabbath.  Within  the 
years  1610 — 1617,  Oliver  Lenton  and  Walter  Lewin  of  Bar- 
ford,  were  punished  for  looking  on  football  players  on  Sunday; 
John  Hawkes  of  Penhold,  for  playing  at  nineholes ;  and 
William  Shellie  of  Bedford,  for  playing  at  tables  on  that  day, 
Roger  White  of  Risely,  also  was  cited  for  travelling  his  horses 
on  the  Sabbath  day ;  Robert  Kinge  of  Shelton,  "  for  going 
towards  London  on  the  Sabbath  day  in  winter,"  and  William 
Dennys  of  Bedford,  "  for  going  out  of  St.  John's  Church  to 
Elstowe  in  sermon  tyme."  The  following  persons  were  also 
cited  :  John  Tirold  of  Bedford,  for  "  bringing  in  his  wares  on 
•  Hale's  Precedents  and  Proceedings  in  Criminal  Causes,  1457 — 1640. 


IGIT.]     EAnLY  CnURCH  LIFE  IX  BEDFORDf^nTRE.         7 

the  Sabbath  day  in  praier  time ; "  John  Sharman,  for  killing 
meat ;  Thomas  Styles,  for  dressing  a  calf  in  the  open  Butcher- 
rowe,  and  Peter  Lord,  the  barber  of  "Woburn,  for  "trimniiiig 
men"  on  that  day.  Saints'  days  were  to  be  as  rigorously 
observed  as  Sundays.  Three  parishioners  of  Milton  Ernys 
came  under  the  lash  of  the  court :  Leonard  Willimot  for  cart- 
ing on  St.  Luke's  day  ;  James  PLxiley,  for  winnowing  corn  on 
Easter  Tuesday  ;  and  Walter  Griffin  "  for  putting  upp  netts 
and  catching  larks  on  a  holliday."  John  Neele  of  Luton,  also 
found  to  his  cost  that  he  had  done  wrong  in  "  stocking  a  fruit 
tree  on  All  Saints'  day,"  so  did  Thomas  Bigrave  of  Pavenhara, 
and  John  "West  of  Stevington,  who  were  "at  a  foote-buU  plaie 
on  Ascension  Day,  and  absent  from  praiers ; "  and  Henry 
Waters  of  Litlington  had  to  answer  at  Ampthill  "  for  carry- 
ing a  burthen  of  woode  home  from  Beckring  Park  on  Easter 
day  last."  Among  others  presented  before  the  court  were  five 
parishioners  of  Poddington,  for  not  receiving  the  communion 
thrice  a  year;  Anna  Chandler,  of  Studham  for  being  "a 
Brownist ;  "  the  wife  of  John  Wheeler  of  Cranfield,  with  others 
of  his  neighbours,  for  not  frequenting  church ;  Hichard  Reade 
of  Keysoe,  for  so  far  anticipating  the  Quaker,  George  Fox,  by 
some  thirty  years  as  to  sit  "  with  his  hatt  on  usually  at  the 
reading  of  the  Epistle  and  Gospell,"  and  William  Shackspeare 
of  Odell,  for  not  communicating. 

It  is  curious  to  see  the  uses  to  which  the  churches  were 
sometimes  put  in  the  days  to  which  the  Act-Books  refer. 
Indeed  we  are  almost  startled  to  find  Ilarman  Sheppard,  the 
curate  of  the  parish,  presented  in  1G12,  for  baiting  a  bear  in 
the  church  at  Woburn.*  Some  years  later,  also,  the  church- 
wardens of  Knotting  were  cited  because  that  on  three  successive 
Shrove  Tuesdays  they  and  their  sons  and  Mr.  Alve}'',  the  rector 
of  the  parish,  "  permitted  and  were  present  at  cockfightings  in 
the  chancell  of  the  said  church  in  or  about  the  sacred  place 
where  the  communion  table  stands,  many  persons  being  there 
assembled  and  wagers  laid."  t  In  still  later  years  the  rector 
of  Carlton  was  presented  because  "  immediately  before  service 
he  did  lead  his  horse  in  at  the  south  doore  into  the  chancell  of 

•  I.mnheth  MSS.  Misccll.,  952  ;  4:). 

t  Siate  J'lipert,  iJoin.,  Chus.  I.,  1G37,  vol.  ccclxx.,  'JO. 


8  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  i. 

Carlton  church,  where  he  sett  him  and  there  continued  all  the 
time  of  the  said  service  and  sermon."  Patrons  of  benefices 
also,  as  well  as  clergy  and  churchwardens,  sometimes  dealt  with 
the  sacred  edifice  in  remarkably  free  and  easy  fashion.  An 
instance  of  this  may  be  found  in  a  village  between  Bedford  and 
Northampton,  of  which  in  1641,  it  was  certified  that  the 
vicarage  had  been  pulled  down,  the  glebe  lost,  and  the  tithes 
detained,  and  that  the  lord  of  the  manor,  Jasper  Hartnell,  after 
dismantling  the  body  of  the  church,  selling  the  lead  and  the 
bells,  had  turned  the  chancel  into  a  kennel  for  his  greyhounds, 
and  the  steeple  into  a  dove-house  for  his  pigeons.* 

The  country  squires  who  could  so  rudely  handle  the  churches 
would  not  be  over  nice  in  their  treatment  of  the  clergy.  Jasper 
Fisher,  the  rector  of  Wilden,  in  his  visitation  sermon  preached 
at  Ampthill  in  1635,  complained  that  "  the  great  men  do  send 
God's  messengers  upon  their  base  errands,  place  them  below 
their  serving-men,  esteem  them  below  their  parasites  ;  nay, 
deride  and  abuse,  persecute  and  destroy  them  for  their  mes- 
sage." t  In  the  same  strain  speaks  out  that  Shakespeare  of 
the  Puritans,  as  he  was  called,  Thomas  Adams,  the  vicar  of 
Willington.  In  a  Visitation  Sermon  preached  at  St.  Paul's,  in 
Bedford,  in  1612,  he  asks,  "  Shall  the  Papists  twit  us  that  our 
Qur  Father  hath  taken  from  the  Church  what  their  Paternoster 
bestowed  upon  it  ?  Were  the  goods  of  the  Church  for  this 
intrusted  to  gentlemen  and  lords  of  the  manors,  that  they 
should  set  them  to  sale  and  turn  their  benefits  into  their  own 
purses  ?  .  .  .  We  are  well  freed  from  the  Bonners  and  butchers 
of  Christ's  lambs ;  but  we  have  still  fleecers  enough — too  many 
— that  love  to  see  learning  follow  Homer  with  a  staff  and  a 
wallet.  Every  gentleman  thinks  the  priest  mean,  but  the 
priest's  means  hath  made  many  a  gentleman."  + 

The  Puritan  movement,  like  the  Protestant  before  it,  found 
a  congenial  home  in  Bedfordshire.  Thomas  Brightman,  the 
vicar  of  Hawnes,  a  celebrated  preacher  and  writer  in  his  time, 
was  one  of  several  ministers  who,  in  1603,  waited  upon  King 

*  A  Certificate  fi-om  Northamptonshire,  4to.    London,  1641. 

t  The  Friesfs  Duty  and  Dignity,  by  Jasper  Fisher,  Presbyter  and  Rector  of 
Wilden  in  Bedfordshire  :   London,  1636. 

X  Heaven  and  Earth  reeonciled :  a  sermon  preached  at  St.  Paul's  Church  in 
Bedford,  Oct.  3rd,  1612.     Adams'  Practical  "Works,  1862,  I.,  448,  et  seq. 


1633.]     EARLY  CHURCH  LIFE  IX  BEDFORDSHIRE.         9 

James,  at  that  time  the  guest  of  the  Crom wells  at  Hinchin- 
brook,  near  Huntingdon.  Speaking  for  the  people  from  whom 
they  came  they  "  had  some  good  conference  with  his  Majesty 
and  gave  him  a  book  of  reasons."  They  pleaded  against  the 
use  of  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism,  against  baptism  by 
women,  and  against  the  use  of  the  cap  and  surplice.  They 
urged  that  there  ought  to  be  examination  into  the  life  of  such 
persons  as  came  to  the  communion,  and  that  ministers  ought 
not  to  be  called  priests.  They  petitioned  against  "  longsome- 
ness  of  service,  and  the  abuse  of  church  songes  and  music," 
against  profanation  of  the  Lord's  Day,  and  against  excommu- 
nication by  such  lay  persons  as  the  Archdeacon's  commissary, 
or  for  trifles,  and  without  the  consent  of  pastors.* 

It  need  not  be  repeated  here  how  the  Puritans  got  nothing 
from  Kino-  James  but  this  "good  conference "  at  Ilinchiu- 
brook.  But  though  disappointed  in  their  hopes  from  him  they 
held  on  their  way,  their  opinions  obtaining  wider  and  firmer 
hold  among  the  people.  In  1633,  the  Jiishop  of  Lincoln, 
reporting  the  condition  of  his  diocese  to  Archbishop  Laud, 
observes,  "  Some  in  Bedfordshire  use  to  wander  from  their  own 
parish  churches  to  follow  preachers  affected  by  themselves,  of 
which  theofiicers  are  caused  to  take  special  care."  The  follow- 
ing year  Laud  himself  reports  to  the  King  :  "  As  for  Lincolne, 
it  being  the  greatest  diocese  in  the  kingdom,  I  have  now 
reducetl  that  under  Metropolitical  Visitation,  and  visited  it  this 
preceding  year.  My  visitors  there  found  Bedfordshire  most 
tainted  of  any  part  of  the  diocese,  and  in  particular  ^Ir. 
Bulkeley  is  sent  to  the  High  Commission  for  Nonconformity."  t 
The  first  of  the  two  visitors  here  referred  to  by  the  Archbishop 
was  Dr.  Farmery,  chancellor  of  the  diocese  of  Lincoln,  who  in 
July,  1G34,  reported  to  him  as  follows:  "That  sort  of  people 
that  run  from  tlieir  own  parishes  after  aflected  preachers  are 
tlie  most  troublesome  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  inquisition 
in  Buckingham  and,  I{edf(jrdsliires,  where  they  found  great 
abettors  in  this  their  disorder.  The  now  recorder  of  Bedford 
questioned  at  a  sessions  one  of  my  apparitors  for  troubling,  as 

•  rrtition  to  Kin«  Jiimos.  Nov.  3()th,  IGOt.     Jddl.  MSS.  8978. 
t   Ijtiwln  Annu.il  I^-porta  of  hiii  I'rovinwj  to   tho  King,  1033,  1G3-1.      Lambeth 
MSS.  943,  p.  251. 


10  JOHN  BUNT  AN.  [chap.  j. 

he  said,  these  goclly  men,  and  then  delivered  publicly  that  if 
men  were  thus  troubled  for  going  to  hear  a  sermon  when  their 
minister  at  home  did  not  preach,  it  would  breed  a  scab  in  the 
kingdom."* 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Archbishop  Laud  revived  the  long 
disused  claim  to  Metropolitical  Visitation,  sending  his  Yicar- 
General,  Sir  Nathaniel  Brent,  to  report  upon  the  ecclesiastical 
condition  of  the  whole  of  the  diocese  of  Lincoln.  The  month 
after  Dr.  Farmery's  report  had  been  received,  Sir  Nathaniel 
set  forth,  beginning  at  Lincoln  and  working  his  way  south- 
ward. He  unearthed  strange  doings  and  met  with  curious 
experiences.  Ale-houses,  hounds,  and  swine  were  kept  in 
churchyards  ;  copes  and  vestments  had  been  embezzled  ;  clan- 
destine marriages  were  celebrated  by  the  clergy  ;  and  both 
clergy  and  laity  were  much  given  to  drunkenness.  At  Saxby, 
Lord  Castleton's  bailiff  was  found  melting  in  the  middle  aisle 
of  the  church  the  lead  he  had  stripped  from  the  roof.  At 
Brigstock,  the  Court  had  to  deal  with  a  clergyman  who  was 
charged  with  ensuring  an  audience  to  the  end  of  his  discourses 
by  the  simple  expedient  of  locking  the  church  door  upon  his 
congregation,  keeping  them  there  till  it  was  quite  dark.  After 
this  we  come  upon  a  different  class  of  oiFenders.  "  At  Hun- 
tingdon, divers  ministers  in  that  division  were  suspected 
for  Puritanisme,  but  being  questioned  they  professed  abso- 
lute conformitie."  Brent  reached  Bedford  on  the  26th  of 
August,  of  which  he  reports  :  "  Mr.  Peter  Bulkeley,  rector  of 
Odell,  suspected  for  Puritanisme,  was  suspended  for  absence. 
He  came  to  me  to  Aylesburie,  where  he  confessed  he  never 
used  the  surplisse  or  the  crosse  in  baptisme.  He  is  to  appear 
in  the  High  Commission  Court  the  first  court  day  in  November 
if  he  reform  not  before.  Divers  ministers  in  Bedford,  espe- 
cially Mr.  Smith,  are  suspected  for  Nonconformitie."  f 

This  Peter  Bulkeley  thus  singled  out  by  the  Vicar-General, 
had  succeeded  his  father.  Dr.  Edward  Bulkeley,  as  rector  of 
Odell,  in  1620.  His  sister  was  the  wife  of  Sir  Oliver  St.  John,  of 
Kej'soe,  and  therefore  the  mother  of  that  Oliver  St.  John,  who 
was  afterwards  Cromwell's  Lord  Chief   Justice.     Educated  at 

*  State  Papers,  Bom.,  Chas.  I.,  1634,  July  14th. 
t  Ihid.,  1634,  vol.  cclxxiv.,  12. 


1634-u.]  EARLY  CEURCH  LIFE  IX  BEDFORDSniRE.      11 

St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  Peter  Bulkeley  was  fellow  of 
his  college  at  an  early  age,  and  is  spoken  of  by  those  who  knew 
him  as  eminent  for  scholarship.  lie  was  equally  eminent  for 
his  o-odlv  life.  Cotton  Mather  savs  of  him  that  he  was  "  full 
of  those  devotions  which  accompany  a  conversation  in  heaven," 
and  no  neighbour  could  talk  with  him,  but  "  he  would  let  fall 
some  holy,  serious,  divine,  and  useful  sentences  ere  they  parted." 
lie  was  in  the  full  career  of  his  usefulness  when  silenced  by 
Brent.  The  summons  to  the  Vicar-General's  court  reached 
him,  savs  blather,  "at  the  time  his  ministry  had  a  notable 
success  in  the  conversion  of  many  unto  God."  Finding  after  his 
appearance  at  Aylesbury  he  could  not,  with  a  good  conscience, 
retain  his  ministry,  he  took  sorrowful  leave  of  the  good  people 
of  OdcU,  and  accompanied  by  Zachary  Symmes,  minister  of  the 
Priory  Church  of  Dunstable,  sailed  for  New  England,  where 
he  joined  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  in  1635.  Resting  for  a  time  at 
Boston,  he  subsequently  pursued  his  way  "  thro'  unknowne 
woods  "  to  the  banks  of  the  Musketaquid  river,  where  he  founded 
the  town  of  Concord,  the  first  inland  plantation  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts colony.  It  may  be  interesting  to  mention  that  Ralph 
"NValdo  Emerson,  Concord's  best  known  citizen,  sprang  from 
Peter  Bulkeley,  whose  granddaughter  was  married  to  the  Rev. 
John  Emerson  in  1665.* 

While  thus  dealing  with  the  two  Pilgrim  Fathers  who 
went  from  Bedfordshire,  Sir  Nathaniel  Brent  still  went 
on  his  tour  of  search.  From  Ampthill,  where  he  was  on  the 
30th  of  August,  ho  reports  to  Laud  that  "  great  coraplainte 
was  made  of  the  inconformitie  of  ^Ir.  Shirley,  the  vicar  of 
Ilawnes,  ^Mr.  Holmes,  the  vicar  of  Whipsnade,  and  many 
others  whom  I  questioned  for  inconformitie."  Of  Bow 
Brickliill,  where  he  was  on  the  2nd  of  September,  he  says  : 
"  The  people  thereabouts,  and  indeed  in  all  the  south  part  of 
this  diocese,  are  much  addicted  to  leave  their  parish  churches  to 
go  to  hear  affected  preachers  elsewhere.  The  country  much 
complayneth  of  the  Court  at  Lcyton  and  those  of  the  Court,  of 
Puritanisme.  Much  complayiiing,  but  no  proving."  With 
which  words  Sir  Nathaniel  took  his  leave. 

•    The  Bulkeley  Familij,  or  the  Descet>danta  of  the  Rev.  Peter  Bulkcletj,  by  F.  W . 
Cbapman.     llurtford,  Conn.,  187'). 


12  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  i. 

When  the  Yicar-General  was  gone  the  officers  of  the  local 
Ecclesiastical  Courts  still  zealously  carried  out  the  policy  of  driv- 
ing conscientious  men  into  those  ways  of  conformity  so  dear  to 
the  ecclesiastical  mind.  Among  the  MSS.  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  calendared  in  recent  years  by  the  Historical  Manuscripts 
Commission,  there  are  numerous  petitions,  interesting  to  the 
local  historian,  which  throw  light  on  the  course  steadily  pur- 
sued. In  one  petition,  for  example,  John  James  of  Olney 
complains  that,  though  nothing  had  been  proved  against  him, 
he  had  been  compelled  to  pay  a  fine  of  £10  towards  the  build- 
ing of  St.  Paul's,  in  London,  the  ordinary  fees,  and  £16  to  the 
Court.  He  had  also,  he  says,  to  give  a  beaver  to  Sir  John 
Lambe,  Dean  of  Arches,  "which  cost  your  petitioner  £4  more." 
His  own  minister  being  suspended,  and  no  preaching  going  on 
in  his  own  parish  church,  he  went  to  hear  a  sermon  elsewhere, 
and,  though  this  sermon  was  preached  in  a  parish  church,  and 
not  in  a  conventicle,  he  was  for  this  offence  excommunicated. 
To  obtain  absolution  from  this  sentence  cost  him  the  ordinary 
fees  and  a  fine  of  £24  more.  John  James  has  further  sorrows 
to  recount,  "  all  which  unjust  proceedings  have  caused  your 
petitioner  to  sell  his  inheritance,  and  to  spend  above  £100,  and 
tend  greatly  to  his  undoing."  * 

It  would  seem  that  many  of  the  clergy  fared  no  better  than 
the  laity.  Another  petition  is  from  Daniel  Clarke,  vicar  of 
Steventon,  and  others,  and  complains  that  Walter  Walker,  the 
commissary  of  the  Court  at  Bedford,  "  hath,  by  virtue  of  his 
office,  tyrannized  over  the  clergy  of  sett  purpose  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  Archbishop  of  Canterburie."  In  apportioning 
the  tax  laid  upon  the  clergy  for  the  King's  expedition  to  Scot- 
land, he  had  made  excessive  assessments,  "  threatening  to  sus- 
pend them,  and  to  return  their  names  if  they  did  not  comply." 
From  Clarke  he  had  demanded  £5  instead  of  forty- six  shillings, 
and  from  Thomas  Wells,  the  rector  of  Carlton,  £6.  "  This  was 
greatly  too  much,  and  because  he  did  not  pay  he  cited  Mr. 
Wells  (though  a  hundred  years  olde)  to  Bedford  Courte,  being 
five  miles  from  his  living ;  and  because  he  did  not  appear  he 
suspended  him,  and  called  him  an  old  owle,  and  would  not  dis- 
miss him  till  he  paid  the  £6."     The  petition,  which  was  evi- 

♦  House  of  Lords  MSS.,  Feb.  9tli,  1640,  1641.     Petition  of  John  James. 


1641.]     EARLY  CHURCE  LIFE  ly  BEDFORDSHIRE.        13 

dently  a  combined  expression  of  grievances,  goes  on  to  describe 
how  "  the  said  commissarie  did  suspend  the  curate  of  Bromham 
for  referring  to  the  Government  in  his  sermon,"  and  did  "  ex- 
hibit articles  against  the  rector  of  Stondon  for  reading  divine 
service  once  without  a  surplice,  though  it  was  proved  by  wit- 
nesses that  at  that  time  his  surplice  was  at  the  washers  ;  "  how 
"  he  suspended  the  vicar  of  Cardington  for  once  omitting  to 
weare  the  surplice  in  the  afternoon,  though  he  had  worne  it  in 
the  morning  ;  "  and  how  he  declared  he  would  make  Richard 
Kitlbrd,  the  churchwarden  of  Cockayne  Hatley,  stand  in  three 
market  towns  barefooted  and  bareheaded,  or  pay  a  fine  of 
£13  68.  8d.,  for  not  presenting  that  the  font  was  in  decay.* 

In  another  section  the  same  petition  complains  of  a  change 
of  procedure  forced  upon  the  parishioners  of  St.  Paul's,  in 
Bedford,  in  the  manner  of  observing  the  Communion  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  From  the  time  of  the  Reformation  and  the 
abolition  of  the  mass  there  had  been  no  rails  round  the  com- 
munion-table. As  to  whether  it  was  a  table  or  an  altar,  whether 
its  right  place  was  in  the  body  of  the  church  or  chancel,  or 
altarwise  at  the  east  end,  controversy  had  been  briskly  waged. 
But,  practically,  a  compromise,  favourable  to  the  Puritans,  had 
been  come  to  in  Elizabeth's  time,  which  was  substantially 
adopted  in  the  canons  of  1603.  According  to  this  the  table 
should  stand  in  the  church  where  the  altar  stood  before  the 
Reformation,  fr^ry;^  at  the  celebration  of  the  Commu)iion,dii  \\\\\c\\ 
time  it  was  to  be  brought  out  and  placed  where  the  communi- 
cants could  most  conveniently  see  and  hear  the  minister,  and 
then  to  be  returned  to  its  former  place  when  the  service  was 
over.  The  Eighty-Second  Canon  distinctly  enjoins  a  moveable 
Communion-table,  so  that  a  fixed  altar  with  altar-rails  and 
kneeling  communicants  thereat  were  unlawful  innovations 
introduced  into  the  Church  of  England  by  Archbishop  I^aud. 

In  his  endeavour  to  change  the  practice  thus  cstablislied 
Laud  was  met  by  stout  resistance.  In  1636  he  reported  to  the 
King  that  in  Bcdford.-shire  there  was  great  opposition  both  to 
the  erection  of  altar-rails  and  to  the  kneeling  before  them. 
He  says,  "  The  people  in  some  places  refuse  to  do  so.    His  lord- 

•  Hoime  iif  LortU  MSS.,  Auf^uot  -Oth,  1G41.  IV-tition  of  Duniul  Cltirkf,  viuur 
of  Stcventon,  &c. 


14  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  i. 

ship  [the  Bishop  of  Lincoln]  desires  direction,  as  this  is  not 
regulated  by  any  canon  of  the  Church."  On  the  margin  of 
this  report  there  is,  in  the  well-known  handwriting  of  the 
King,  the  following  note  :  "  C.  R.  Try  your  way  for  some 
time."*  Immediately  after,  as  the  petition  referred  to  complains, 
the  commissary  "  ordered  steppes  to  be  raised  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  chancel  of  St.  Paul's  in  Bedford,  and  gave  strict  orders 
that  the  communion-table  be  sett  there  north  and  south."  This 
was  done,  yet,  in  spite  thereof,  both  minister  and  people  still 
retained  the  mode  of  administration  to  which  they  had  been 
long  accustomed.  The  petition  then  relates,  that  in  1639  Walter 
Walker  "  gave  orders  to  John  Bradshaw,  vicar  of  St.  Paul's  in 
Bedford,  to  keep  within  the  railes  at  the  administration  of  the 
communion,  and  because  he  did  not,  but  came  down  to  the 
communicants,  he  complained  against  him.  He  gave  orders  to 
the  communicants  of  St.  Paul's  to  come  up  to  the  railes  about 
the  communion-table,  and  first  went  up  thither  himself  to  show 
them  how.  Those  that  failed  he  cited,  and  threatened  to  make 
them  make  public  confession  in  the  church."  t 

The  commissary  was  a  resolute  man,  but  the  men  with  whom 
he  had  to  deal  were  resolute  also.  A  year  later,  in  October, 
1 640,  the  vicar  of  St.  Paul's  was  cited  before  the  High  Com- 
mission Court,  and  asked  plain  questions  as  to  his  mode  of 
administering  the  communion.  He  replied  that  he  knew  of  no 
canon  forbidding  him  to  administer  the  sacrament  to  them  that 
did  not  come  up  to  the  rails.+  In  this  attitude  he  was  sustained 
by  his  leading  parishioners,  among  whom  were  John  Eston,  his 
churchwarden  of  the  previous  year,  John  Grewe,  and  Anthony 
Harrington,  three  men  whom  we  shall  meet  with  ag  lin  as  the 
founders  of  the  church  to  which  Bunyan  afterwards  belonged. 

What  the  Court  of  High  Commission  did  with  John  Brad- 
shaw there  remain  no  records  to  show.  For  before  long  both 
that  court  and  those  who  inspired  its  proceedings  had  more 
urgent  duty  on  their  hands  than  that  of  looking  after  him. 
A  storm  was  gathering,  before  the  fury  of  which  great  heads 
were  soon  to  bend  low,  and  within   a  few  months  there  was 

*  Laud's  Reports  to  the  King,  1636.     Lambeth  MSS.,  943,  p.  267. 

t  Home  of  Lords  MSS.,  Aug.  5th,  1641. 

X  State  Papers,  Dom.,  Charles  I.,  Oct.  7th,  1640,  vol.  cccclxix.,  52. 


1641.]     EAIiLT  CRUBCn  LIFE  IX  BEDFOIiDSniBE.        15 

summoned  that  Long  Parliament  whicli  was  to  change  so  many 
things  before  its  work  was  done.  To  this  ever-memorable 
assembly  Bedfordshire  sent  up  three  parliamentarians,  Sir 
Beauchamp  St.  John  of  Bletsoe,  Sir  Oliver  Luke,  and  his  son, 
Sir  Samuel  of  Cople  Wood  End,  and  the  royalist  Lord  "Went- 
worth  of  Todyngton.  "Within  a  month  Lord  AVentworth  was 
raised  to  the  Upper  House  in  his  own  right,  and  Sir  John  Bur- 
goyne,  a  parliamentarian,  took  his  place.  By  this  change 
the  county  in  its  representation  came  to  be  wholly  on  the 
s'de  of  Pyra  and  Hampden  in  the  impending  struggle.  The 
feeling  of  the  time  was  electric,  both  as  to  hopes  and  fears. 
Parliament  met  in  November,  and  in  January  those  of  "  the 
nobility,  knights,  gentrie,  ministers,  freeholders,  and  inhabi- 
tants of  the  county  of  Bedford"  who  were  for  Laud  and  the 
King  sent  up  a  petition  desiring  to  "  manifest  their  affection  to 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  which  was  with  such  care  and 
sinceritie  refined  from  the  dross  of  Pomish  intermixture,  with 
60  much  pietie  reduced  to  its  present  purity  ;  "  and  they  pray 
that  the  present  form  of  Church  government  may  be  continued, 
and  the  statutes  concerning  oflfeuders  against  the  same  be  put 
into  execution.* 

Parliament  received  this  petition,  but  not  with  the  same 
sympathetic  attention  they  bestowed  upon  another  document 
sent  up  from  Bedfordshire  on  the  13th  of  the  same  month. 
This  was  a  petition  and  articles  from  John  Harvey  of  Carding- 
ton  against  Dr.  Pocklington,  rector  of  Yclden,  "as  a  chiefo 
author  and  ringleader  in  all  those  innovations  which  have  of 
late  flowed  into  the  Church  of  England."  Hugh  Peeve  also, 
of  Ampthill,  another  Bedfordshire  clergyman  of  like  proclivities, 
was  ordered  to  be  arrested  by  the  Sergcant-at-Arms  for  his 
popish  practices,  and  in  the  early  months  of  IGU  petitions  from 
aggrieved  parisliioners  went  up  from  all  sides,  like  Iraves  before 
the  storm.  Nor  did  the  men  of  Bedfordshire  content  themselves 
with  seeking  redress  of  local  and  private  wrongs.  On  Tuesday, 
the  lOth  of  ^larch,  a  petition  was  presented  to  Parliament  by 
Sir  Jolin  Buigoyne,  who  wasaccompaTMcd  by  some  two  thousand 
persons,  "  the  high  sheriff,  knights,  esquires,  gentlemen, 
ministers,  freeholders,  and  others,  inhabitants  of  tlic  eoiinty  of 

•  Stale  raperi,  U<m.,  Churlcfl  I.,  1G40,  1041  [Jan.],  No.  110. 


16  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  i. 

Bedford."  They  first  express  their  gratitude  to  Parliament 
for  what  in  so  short  a  space  had  already  been  accomplished  ; 
for  the  pious  care  which  had  removed  scandalous  and  super- 
stitious innovations  in  religion  ;  for  the  reassembling  of  Parlia- 
ment, the  removal  of  illegal  taxes ;  for  the  abolition  of  the  Star 
Chamber  and  the  Court  of  High  Commission,  and  for  the  tak- 
ing away  of  bishops'  votes  in  Parliament.  With  an  obvious 
reference  to  Strafford  and  Laud,  who  were  then  in  the  Tower 
awaiting  their  trial,  the  petition  asks  for  the  displacement  of  all 
evil  councillors  and  the  punishment  of  all  delinquents,  and  for  the 
complete  removal  of  all  burdensome  and  scandalous  ceremonies, 
and  of  all  corrupt  and  scandalous  ministers.  They  desire  also 
that  a  learned,  pious,  and  conscientious  ministry  may  be  pro- 
vided for  and  maintained,  especially  in  market  towns  and 
populous  places ;  that  the  pious  and  painful  divines  who  for 
unjust  and  frivolous  causes  had  been  deprived  by  the  bishops 
and  their  officers,  might  receive  ample  reparation,  and  that  there 
might  be  "a  faithfuU  magistracie  as  well  as  a  painfull 
ministrie."  * 

Such  was  the  tenor  of  the  petition  subscribed  so  numerously 
and  presented  to  Parliament  so  impressively  by  the  people  of 
Bedfordshire.  In  the  then  prevailing  temper  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  both  the  petition  and  the  demonstration  were  right 
welcome  at  Westminster.  It  was  ordered  that  Mr.  Speaker,  in 
the  name  of  the  House,  shall  take  particular  notice,  and  give 
the  gentlemen  of  Bedfordshire  thanks  for  their  petition.  It 
was  no  ordinary  occasion,  no  common  display  of  the  feeling  of 
the  country,  and  even  London  was  stirred  at  the  sight.  For 
these  men  from  the  Midlands  rode  four  abreast  through  the  city 
on  their  way  to  Westminster.  "  I  myself,"  says  JSTehemiah 
Wallington,  "  did  see  above  two  thousand  of  these  men  come 
riding  from  Finsbury  Fields,  four  in  a  rank,  with  their  protes- 
tations in  their  hats."  f 

*  Broadside,   Printed  by  a  true  copy  with    the  petitioners'  approbation,   at 
the  charge  of  John  Chambers,  1641. 
t  Historical  Notices,  II.  31. 


Elstow  Chukcii. 


II. 


ELSTOW  AND  THE  BUNYANS  OF  ELSTOW. 


If,  as  is  not  improbable,  any  considerable  portion  of  the  two 
thouHand  potitionors  from  Ik'dfordshirc  started  from  the  eounty 
town,  liunvan,  who  was  then  a  lad  t)f  twelve,  may  liave  stood 
and  with  wistful  eyes  watehed  this  si^niticaiit  cavalcade  as  it 
pUKsed  through  his  native  village,  along  the  main  street  of 
which  then  lay  the  high  road  to  London. 

lilstow,  a  little  more  than  a  mile  to  the  south-west  of  Bedford, 
is  a  quaint,  (juietly  nestling  place,  with  an  old-world  look  upon  it. 
»»curcely  touched  by  the  movements  of  our  modern  life.   Fronting 


18  JOBN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ii. 

the  road-side,  with  overhanging  storeys  and  gabled  dormers, 
are  half-timbered  cottages,  some  of  which,  judging  from  the 
oaken  rafters  and  staircases  of  their  interiors,  have  seen  better 
days.  The  long  building  in  the  centre  of  the  village,  and  now 
turned  into  cottages,  with  projecting  upper  chambers  and 
central  overhanging  gateway,  still  retains  much  of  the  external 
appearance  it  presented  as  a  hostelry  for  pilgrims  in  pre- 
Reforraation  times.  Opposite  to  the  gate  of  this  hostelry 
is  the  opening  to  the  village  green,  on  the  north  side  of  which 
stands  what  we  may  call  the  Moot  Hall  of  the  parish,  a  pic- 
turesque building  of  timber  and  brick,  which,  with  its  oaken 
beams  bearing  traces  of  Perpendicular  carving  and  its  ruddy 
tiles  touched  here  and  there  with  many-tinted  lichen,  presents 
to  the  eye  in  the  summer  sun-light  a  pleasant  combination 
of  colour  and  form.  This  curious  structure  of  fifteenth  century 
work,  furnishing  a  somewhat  fine  example  of  the  domestic 
architecture  of  the  period,  was  probably  originally  erected 
to  serve  as  the  hospitium  for  travellers,  and  while  not  far 
from  the  road  was  yet  within  the  hallium  or  outer  court  of 
Elstow  Abbey.*  At  a  later  time,  when  the  manorial  rights 
passed  from  the  Abbess  to  the  Crown,  there  were  held  in  the 
upper  chamber  those  courts  of  the  lord  of  the  manor  with 
View  of  Frankpledge,  of  which  Bunyan's  ancestors  had  some 
experience  in  the  century  before  his  birth.  It  was  the  scene, 
also,  of  village  festivities,  statute  hirings,  and  all  the  public 
occasions  of  village  life. 

To  the  west  of  this  building,  on  what  was  probably  once  the 
centre  of  a  much  larger  green,  rises  the  pedestal  and  broken 
stem  of  the  ancient  market  cross  round  which  were  held  those 
famous  fairs  of  Elstow,  possible  suggestions  of  Vanity  Fair, 
which  had  been  a  great  village  institution  ever  since  the  days 
of  Henry  II.  It  was  on  the  green  sward  stretching  this  way 
and  that  round  the  cross  that  Bunyan  played  his  Sunday  games 
and  heard  those  mysterious  voices  which  changed  for  him  the 
current  of  his  life. 

The  elm-trees  by  the  churchyard  wall  have,  for  safety's  sake, 
been  shorn  of  their  upper  branches,  and  the  Church,  of  stern 
necessity,  but  with  loving,  heedful  care,  has  been  extensively 
*  Architectural  Notes,  ty  M.  J.  C.  Buckley,  1885. 


1&41.]  ELSTOW  AXD  THE  BUXYAXS  OF  ELS  TO  JT. 


19 


restored ;  but  tte  church  tower,  standing  apart  and,  like  the 
towers  of  Blyth,  Shrewsbury,  and  Christchurch,  of  later  date 
than  the  m;iin  building,  remains  the  same  as  when  Bunyan 
leaned  against  its  doorway  and  delighted  to  ring  the  bells 
in  the  chamber  overhead.      The  massive  buttresses,  the  time- 


West  View  op  Elstow  Cuuucu 


worn  oalcon  door,  "the  roughly  pavel  floor  trodden  witli  the 
lioli-uiiiled  boots  of  generations  of  ringers,"  the  very  bells 
themselves  are  unchanged  by  the  two  hundred  years  which 
hav(!  come  and  gone  since  he  was  there. 

Passing  through  the  churcli,  or  round  it,  on  the  south  side 
we  come  upon  a  park-liko  mo.idow,  \\  itli  its  liandsomo  trees 
and  colony  of  rooks,   once   part  of   the   monastic  enclosure; 


c  2 


20  JORN  BUNYAN  [chap.  ii. 

upon  the  delightful  little  chamber,  with  its  groined  roof  and 
central  pillar  of  Purbeck  marble,  sometimes,  though  erroneously, 
called  the  chapter  house,  sometimes  the  nuns'  choir,  but  the  actual 
use  of  which,  standing  as  it  does  west  of  the  church,  it  is  not 
so  easy  to  determine.  We  come  also  upon  the  fish  ponds  of  the 
abbey,  now  choked  with  weeds,  and  upon  the  old  mansion  of 
the  Hillersdons,  whose  stately  doorway,  and  ruined  walls,  and 
mullioned  windows  strong  shoots  of  ivy  have  covered  with  a 
mantle  of  green. 

Elstow,  or  Helenstow,  the  f<tow  or  stockaded  place  of  St. 
Helen,  a  name  cognate  to  such  forms  as  Bridestow  and  Mor- 
wenstow,  was  so  called  because  of  the  dedication  of  the  old 
Saxon  church  to  Helena,  the  mother  of  Constantino  the  Great. 
In  1078  there  was  founded  in  the  place,  by  Judith,  the 
niece  of  the  Conqueror,  a  Benedictine  nunnery,  which  remained 
the  central  feature  of  Elstow  life  till  the  surrender  of  the 
monasteries  at  the  Reformation.  In  1553  a  grant  was  made 
by  the  Crown  to  Sir  Humphrey  Radcliffe,  of  "  the  whole 
demesne  and  site  of  the  late  Monastery  or  Abbey  of  Elenstowe, 
in  our  Connty  of  Bedford,  dissolved."  And  while  the  abbey 
with  its  surroundings  was  thus  handed  over  to  the  grantee,  the 
church  was  dismantled,  the  materials  being  probably  used  in 
the  construction  of  the  mansion-house  hard  by ;  the  nave  was 
shortened  by  two  bays ;  the  central  tower  beyond,  and  the 
transepts,  chancel,  and  Lady  Chapel  were  taken  down ;  a  beauti- 
ful Norman  doorway  was  removed  from  the  east  end,  to  form 
the  present  north-west  entrance  ;  and  the  church  tower  now 
standing  by  itself  was  constructed  to  hold  the  bells,  which  had 
been  removed  from  the  central  tower. 

Sir  Humphrey  Radclifie  died  in  1566,  his  widow  surviving 
him  at  Elstow  till  1594.  In  1616  his  son.  Sir  Edward,  sold 
the  Elstow  estate  to  Sir  Thomas  Hillersdon,  who,  in  the  days 
of  James  I.,  built  at  least  a  part  of  the  house  now  in  ruins 
to  the  south-west  of  the  church.  The  Hillersdon  arms  are  to 
be  seen  over  the  very  graceful  porch,  which  is  in  the  best 
style  of  the  English  Renaissance.  Of  this  part  of  the  building 
Mr.  Buckley  says  : — "  The  harmony  of  its  proportions  and  the 
grace  of  its  details  show  this  little  edifice  to  have  been  the 
work   of   a    master    hand ;    in    the    masques  and    arabesques 


1616.]     ELSTOir  AND  THE  BUXYAXS  OF  ELSTOJ^^.       21 

which  decorate  the  intrados  of  the  arch,  as  well  as  the  panels 
in  the  pediments  of  the  pilasters,  are  traces  of  Italian  taste ; 
and  from  the  p-eneral  style  of  the  work  there  seems  every  reason 
to  helieve  that  Inigo  Jones  planned  and  added  this  elegant 
porch  to  the  old  manor-house."*  Standing  back  a  little  way 
frttm  the  high  road,  its  carriage-driye  leading  up  to  this  finely 
sculptured  entrance,  the  manor-house  was  at  its  best  in  Uunyan's 


IIlLLEU8U0N    PolK  II. 


-'^X^.^'^ir^^r: 


Elstow  days,  and  may  have  suggested  to  him  the  conception  of 
that  "  very  stately  palace  the  name  of  which  was  l^oauliful, 
wliich  stood  just  by  the  highway  side." 

Turning  now  from  the  surroundings  of  lUiiiyan'.'?  native 
village  to  liis  family  antecedents,  we  find  that  his  ancestors 
were  in  Bedfordshire  as  early  at  least  as  1199.  From  llu^  fact 
that  in  1219  the  form  of  the  name  was  Buignon,  really  aTi  old 

•  Arrhitnlural  Nolrn,  p.  20.1.  In  Hiipj>ort  «f  tho  opinion  horn  cxproRScd,  it 
may  bn  mentionrd  that  Inii^o  JonoH  in  known  to  huvc  boon  on  u  visit  to  Ik-d- 
ford«hirr)  about  tho  time  thia  porch  wuh  built. 


22  JOEN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  ii. 

Frencli  word  equivalent  to  tLe  modern  heignet,^'  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  the  Bunyans  sprang  from  those  Northmen  who 
came  to  us  through  Normandy.  At  all  events,  the  name  was 
found  on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel  as  well  as  on  this,  for 
in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  the  authorities  of  Dieppe  com- 
plained to  the  deputy  of  Calais  that  the  Flemings  had  taken 
prisoners  Jehan  Bunon  and  Collin  AUais.f 

The  earliest  settlement  of  the  Bunyans  in  Bedfordshire  seems 
to  have  been  at  Pulloxhill  {PoJochessek),  a  village  about  nine 
miles  from  Elstow.  When  Norman  nobles  quartered  them- 
selves upon  English  lands  they  gathered  round  them  retainers 
and  domestics  from  across  the  sea.  In  this  way  probably  the 
Bunyans  came  to  be  the  feudal  tenants  of  Nigel  de  Albini,  the 
ancestor  of  the  Earls  of  Arundel,  whose  son  Henry  established 
himself  at  Cainhoe  Castle,  and  to  whom  Pulloxhill,  and  eleven 
other  neighbouring  manors,  belonged.  In  the  Dunstable 
Chronicle  we  find  the  following  record  made  by  prior  Richard 
de  Morin  in  1219  :  "  In  this  year  the  aforesaid  Justiciaries 
were  at  Bedford  in  presence  of  whom  we  obtained  our  return 
against  Henry  Bunyun  for  the  land  of  John  Travayle."+     The 

*  Godefroy  gives  this  quotation  from  au  early  Soissons  MS.  :  "  Et  hone  char 
et  granz  buignons."  Dictionnaire  de  VAncienne  Langue  Frangaise  et  de  tons  ses 
Lialectes  du  ix^  au  XT«  Steele.  The -word  signifies  a  little  raised  pattie  with  fruit  in 
the  middle,  and  came  to  be  applied  to  any  round  knob  or  bunch  (Ital.  bugnon)  ; 
any  small  elevation  or  convexity  {Icelandic  bunga).  Thus  we  get  hun  and  hunch 
and  curiously  enough  the  ordinary  bunion,  a  raised  swelling  on  the  feet.  Vide 
ykeat's  Etymol.  Diet. 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  as  the  surname  of  the  Bedfordshire  family  the 
word  has  been  spelt  in  no  fewer  than  thirty-four  different  ways,  thus  :  In  the 
Assize  Rolls  of  1  John  and  3  Henry  III.  it  was  spelt  Bingnon,  Buingnon,  and 
Buniun ;  in  the  Dunstable  Chronicle  of  the  same  century  :  Boinun,  Boynun, 
and  Bunyun;  in  the  Subsidy  Rolls  of  a  century  later  :  Bonionn,  Boynon, 
Boynonnand  Boynun;  in  the  Book  of  the  Luton  Guild  oi  1518:  Bonean  and 
Boynyon;  in  the  Court-Roll  of  the  manor  of  Elstow  (1542—1550),  and  in  the 
Chalgrave  Register  (1539—1628):  Bonyon;  in  the  Transcript  Registers  from. 
Elstow  (1603—1640) :  Bonion,  Bonionn,  Boniun,  Bonnion,  Bonnionn,  Bonniun, 
Bonoyon,  Bonyon,  Bonyonn,  Boonyon,  Bunen,  Bunian,  Bunion,  Bunnion, 
Bunnionn,  Bunyin,  Bunyan,  Bunyon,  Bynyon ;  and  finally  in  the  record  of  Bed- 
fordshire Administrations  it  is  twice  spelt  Binyan  and  once  Binnyan.  Bun- 
yan's  grandfather  signed  himself  Bonyon  ;  his  father  seems  to  have  been  the 
first  to  give  the  name  the  form  it  has  since  retained. 

t  Letters  and  Papers,  Henry  VIII.,  vol.  iii.  part  3,  1521. 

X  Annates  Monastici,  edited  by  H.  Ii.  Luard,  M.A.,  1866,  vol.  iii.,  54, 


1219.]     ELSTOfV  AXD  THE  BUXTAXS  OF  ELSTOJF.       23 

Assize  E,oll  of  Bedfordsliire  for  that  year  has  preserved  no 
record  of  this  case,  which  may,  however,  have  been  on  a 
missing  membrane,  but  it  shows  that  at  the  same  Assize  there 
were  presentments  made  by  commissioners  of  Henry  Buignon 
by  Simon  son  of  Robert,  and  of  John  Buingnon  by  Roger  son 
of  "Walter.*  In  the  Dunstable  Chronicle  t  there  are  three 
other  references  by  a  subsequent  prior,  showing  the  relation 
of  the  family  to  Almuric  St.  Amand,  the  descendant  of  de 
Albini.  They  are  as  follows  :  "  In  the  same  year  (1257),  after 
the  feast  of  St.  ^Martin,  we  boufjht  of  Almaric  St.  Amand  land 
which  he  had  of  John  Boynun  at  Pullokeshille  for  forty-three 
marks  and  a  half."  Three  pages  later  the  entry  is  repeated, 
with  the  addition  that  the  purchase  made  from  St.  Amand  was 
land  which  he  had  "  of  the  gift  of  John  Boinun."  It  would 
appear  that  this  John  Boynun  or  Boinun  was  a  freeman  of 
St.  Amand's,  for  on  the  death  of  the  latter  in  1286  the  then 
prior  of  Dunstable  tells  us  that  scutage  was  paid  to  St. 
Amand's  executors,  and  that  "  for  the  fee  of  John  Boynun 
who  made  service  for  half  a  knight,"  a  certain  payment  was 
made.  This  is  some  clue  to  his  social  position,  for  the  prior 
had  previously  said  that  a  knight's  service  was  for  five  hides 
of  land,  so  that  Boynun  held  some  two  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  on  condition  of  furnishing  military  service  to  the  extent 
of  half  a  knight.  This  scutage  fee  paid  on  the  death  of  his 
chief  amounted  to  about  £80  of  present  value. 

From  I'uUoxhill  the  family  of  the  Buuyans  moved,  one  part 
of  them  to  the  south,  in  the  direction  of  Chalgrave  and  Dun- 
stable, the  other  branch  to  the  north  in  the  direction  of 
Elstow.  Of  those  who  moved  to  the  south  there  sprang  one 
concerning  whom  there  remains  this  dark  and  evil  record  iyi 
the  Assize  Roll  of  121!) :  "  In  the  half-hundred  of  Stanburgh. 
A  certain  clerk  unknown  was  found  killed  in  the  fields  of 
Toternhoe.  AVilliam  Turviter  was  the  first  person  who  found 
him,  but  he  is  not  suspected  ;  Ral{)li  Buingnon  of  Dunstable, 
who  was  hanged  for  that  death,  acknowledged  that  he  killed 
him,  and  on  account  of  that  death  was  arrested.  Let  enquiry 
be  made  at  Dunstable  for  lu's  chattels.     The  Knglishry  was  not 

•   AiMize  llnUn,  15r(lf(jr(l.H}iirc,  3  Jlcnry  III. 

t  Annalci  JIona*tici,  vol.  iii.,  jjJ).  43,  JOl,  207. 


24  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ii. 

presented,  tlierefore  the  crime  was  murder."*  The  meaning  of 
this  being,  of  course,  that  the  Normans,  living  in  the  midst  of 
the  hostile  population  they  had  conquered,  for  their  own 
defence  enacted  and  kept  in  force  till  1340,  the  law  known  as 
the  Presentment  of  Englishry,  in  accordance  with  which  an 
unknown  man  found  slain  was  presumed  to  be  a  Norman, 
unless  the  hundred  in  which  he  was  found  could  prove  that  he 
was  an  Englishman.  If  they  could  not  a  fine  was  levied  on 
the  hundred,  and  in  this  case  towards  the  payment  of  the  fine 
for  the  murder  of  this  unknown  priest  the  murderer's  own 
chattels  were  to  be  inquired  for. 

Leaving  this  Ralph  Buingnon,  who  came  to  an  end  so  tragic 
in  the  south  of  the  county,  we  turn  now  to  that  portion  of  the 
Bunyan  family  with  whom  we  are  more  immediately  con- 
cerned, and  who,  at  least  twenty  years  earlier,  had  moved  in 
the  direction  of  Elstow.  The  earliest  reference  we  have  to  the 
name  relates  to  these.  In  1199  William  Buniun  pleaded  against 
the  abbess  of  Elstow  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  that 
William  of  Wilsamstede  had  sued  him  in  respect  of  half  a  vir- 
gate  of  land  which  he  held  in  that  place,  j"  The  meaning  of 
the  plea  probably  being  that  this  was  a  friendly  suit  to  determine 
the  title  to  the  land — to  settle,  in  fact,  whether  Buniun  was  the 
tenant  of  the  abbess  or  of  the  aforesaid  William.  The  point 
of  interest  for  us  in  the  case,  of  course,  is  that  as  early  as  1199 
there  was  a  Buniun  holding  land  at  Wilstead,  only  a  mile 
away  from  Elstow. 

The  next  document  is  even  more  interesting  still,  inasmuch  as 
it  shows  that  not  only  had  the  Bunyans  come  to  Wilstead,  but 
that  a  William  Boynon,  probably  a  descendant  of  the  William 
of  1199,  was  living  in  1327  on  the  very  spot  in  the  fields  by 
Harrowden  and  Elstow,  on  which,  three  hundred  years  later, 
John  Bunyan  was  born.  This  document,  again,  relates  to  an 
agreement  made  at  Westminster,  on  the  morrow  of  All  Souls, 
in  which  Simon,  son  of  Bobert  atte  Felde,  of  Elnestowe,  and 
William  de  Maydenbury  Peleter  were  the  plaintifi's,  and  Wm. 
Boynon,  of  Harewedon,  and  Matilda  his  wife  were  deforciants 
of  a  messuage  and  an  acre  of  land  with  the  appurtenances  in 

*  Assize  Rolls,  Bedfordshire,  3  Henry  III.,  memb.  14. 
+  Hot.  Cur.  livg.,  1  John  (20th  June,  1199),  I.,  417. 


1542.]     ELSTOTT  AXD  THE  BUXYAXS  OF  ELSron\       To 

Elnestowe.  A  certain  covenant  was  made  ;  "  and  for  this 
acknowledgment,  warranty,  fine,  and  agreement  the  said  Simon 
and  William  gave  to  the  aforesaid  "William  Boynon  and  Matilda 
one  hundred  shillings  of  silver."  * 

It  is  a  long  interval  between  this  document  of  1327  and  the 
year  154'2,  yet  between  these  two  dates  no  references  to  the 
Hunvan  familv  of  any  kind  have  reached  us.  There  has  been 
preserved  in   the  Augmentation  Office  the  Court  Roll  of  the 


>id- 


Moot  Hall  on  Elstow  Gkeen,  the  Coiht-hovse  of  thk  ^Ianok. 


manor  of  Elstow,  embracing  the  years  between  1542  and  1550, 
which  presents  several  points  of  interest.  The  earlier  records 
of  the  manor  appear  to  have  been  lost  with  the  rest  of  the 
d(x:uments  in  the  possession  of  the  Abbess  of  Elstow.  During 
these  years,  which  were  those  between  the  surrender  of  the 
monastery  and  the  grant  to  Sir  TTumphrey  lladcliffe,  the  manor 
was  vested  in  the  Crown,  and  there  was  held  each  spring  and 
autumn  a  Court  of  tlu;  ^lanor,  with  View  of  Frankpledge. 
That   is  to  suy,  ut  these  Courts  the  socmen,  or  juratores,   or 

•  Finei,  Bedford,  20  Edwiird  II.  (1327),  No.  2. 


26  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ii. 

homagers,  as  t"hey  were  variously  termed,  the  men  who  held 
lands  under  the  manor  did  fealty  for  those  lands,  or  paid  fines 
on  renewal  or  relief  in  socage,  which  was  a  kind  of  succession 
duty  to  the  lord  of  the  manor.  Besides  transacting  such  busi- 
ness as  this,  these  Courts  also  exercised  jurisdiction  over  the 
general  affairs  of  the  village,  marking  delinquencies,  settling 
disputes,  redressing  grievances,  and  punishing  offenders.  The 
first  Court  of  which  the  Roll  makes  mention  was  held  on  the 
13th  of  April,  1542,  and  among  the  homagers  present  was 
Thomas  Bonyon.  After  the  record  of  other  business  transacted, 
there  is  the  following  entry  : — 

"  At  this  Court  it  is  witnessed  by  the  homage  that  William 
Bonyon  who  held  freely  of  the  lord  the  King  as  of  his  manor  of 
Elnestow  a  messuage  and  a  pightell  with  the  appurtenances  in 
Elnestow.  And  nine  acres  of  land  particularly  and  severally  lying 
in  the  fields  of  Elnestow  by  fealty,  suit  of  court,  and  rent  by  the 
year  of  three  shillings  and  one  halfpenny  from  which  last  Court  he 
died.  And  that  Thomas  Bonyon  is  the  son  and  next  heir  of  the 
aforesaid  William  Bonyon  and  is  of  the  age  of  forty  years  and 
more,  whereupon  there  falls  to  the  lord  the  king  of  relief  in  socage 
— iij^  01** — which  said  Thomas  Bonyon  acknowledges  that  he  holds 
the  aforesaid  messuage,  pightell,  and  nine  acres  of  land  by  the  rent 
and  service  aforesaid.  And  that  the  aforesaid  messuage  and 
pightell  are  situate  together  and  lie  in  Elnestow  aforesaid  between 
the  messuage  and  close  of  Thomas  Whytebred  on  the  west  part 
and  the  highway  there  on  the  east  part." 

In  the  record  of  the  Court  held  six  years  later,  on  30th 
of  April,  1548,  there  is  the  following  entry,  which  is  interest- 
ing as  describing  yet  more  accurately  the  identical  spot,  with 
its  surroundings,  on  which,  eighty  years  afterwards,  Bunyan 
was  born.  It  relates  to  the  sale  of  three  roods  of  the  land  which 
had  belonged  to  the  Bonyons,  and  the  subsequent  readjust- 
ment of  the  small  quit  rent  payable  to  the  lord  of  the  manor  : — 

"Elnestow  —  View  of  Frankpledge  with  Court,  30th  April, 
38  Henry  VIII.  Fealty.  To  this  court  came  Eobert  Corteys  and 
acknowledged  that  he  held  freely  of  the  said  lord  the  king  as  of  the 
manor  aforesaid  by  fealty  suit  of  court  and  rent  of  a  penny  and  a 
halfpenny  by  the  year  three  roods  of  arable  land  together  lying  in 
the  east  field  of  Elnestow  upon  the  furlong   called  Pesselynton, 


I 


1548.]     ELSTOW  AXD  THE  BUXYAXS  OF  ELSTOTT.        21 

between  the  land  of  John  Gascoign,  knight,  on  either  side,  and 
abuts  on  the  north  liead  upon  Cardyngton  broke  and  the  south  head 
\ipon  the  close  called  Bonyon's  End,  which  he  had  of  the  gift  of 
Thomas  Bonyon  of  Elnestowo,  in  the  count}-  of  Bedford,  labtmrcr,  as 
by  the  diarter  of  the  said  Thomas  bearing  date  the  1 8th  day  of  the 
month  of  April  in  the  37th  year  of  the  said  lord  the  king  is  fully 
clear,  -which  said  three  roods  were  late  parcel  of  a  messuage  and  cer- 
tain lands  late  of  William  Bonyon,  father  of  the  aforesaid  Thonuis 
Ijunyon,  and  which  said  messuage  and  lands  were  charged  to  the 
said  lurd  the  king  with  one  whole  yearly  rent  of  three  shillings  and 
fourpence.     And  the  aforesaid  three  roods  were  apportioned  at  the 
aforesaid  rent  of  a  penny  and  a  halfpenny  by  the  year.     And  the 
aforesaid  Thomas  Bonyon  is  discharged  of  the  same  yearly  rent 
of  a  penny  and  a  halfpenny."* 

■  Thomas  Bonyon  was  evidently  going  down  in  the  world,  and 
selling  piece  by  piece  his  ancestral  land.  For  a  year  later 
came  John  Lynwood  to  the  Court,  acknowledging  "  that  he 
held  freely  of  the  lord  the  king  as  of  his  manor  there  by  fealty, 
suit  of  Court  and  rent  of  2d.  by  the  year,  three  acres  and  a 
rood  of  land  particularly  and  severally  lying  in  Ilarodon 
8harpe-fold,  in  the  parish  of  Cardyngton,  which  were  formerly 
of  Thomas  Bonyon." 

There  were  sixteen  Courts  of  the  manor  of  Elstow  of  which 
we  have  knowledge  at  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  and 
the  beginning  of  that  of  Edward  VI.,  and  at  all  of  them  but 
one  Thomas  Bonyon  appears  among  the  dozen  or  so  of  juratores 
or  homagers.  Besides  the  sale,  first  of  three  roods  and  then  of 
three  acres  and  a  rood  of  his  land,  there  are  signs  that  either 
he  or  his  wife  was  in  trouble  at  twelve  out  of  the  sixteen  of 
these  Courts.  She  is  described  in  one  place  as  "a  common 
brewer  of  beer  ;  "  and  in  another  as  "  a  common  baker  of 
Imman  bread " — human  bread,  we  may  presume,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  horse-bread  ;  and  eleven  times  over  she  was 
fined  for  breaking  the  assize  of  beer  and  bread — that  is,  for 
asking  higher  priced  than  those  fixed  by  the  Court  of  the 
manor.  In  the  days  of  the  Abbess  she  would  have  been 
sent  to  the  cucking-stool  for  her  repeated  offences ;  but 
in    the  more  lenient  days  on   wliich   she  had  fallen,  she  was 

•  Exchequer  Court  of  AugincuUitionM,  Cuurt  liolU,  portfolio  xi.,  No.  Tl. 


28  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap  ii. 

simply  amerced  seven  times  at  a  penny  and  four  times  at  two- 
pence. In  1547  Thomas  Bonyon  himself  and  not  his  wife 
appeared  before  the  Court  as  the  offending  brewer  of  beer,  and 
was  fined  a  penny.  This,  however,  did  not  prevent  his  being 
chosen,  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  along  with  Thomas 
Crowley,  as  parish  constable,  to  which  office  he  was  duly  sworn. 
Seven  years  later  this  ancestor  of  Bunyan,  who  seems  to  have 
been  the  keeper  of  a  small  roadside  inn  on  the  way  to  Med- 
bury,  was  called  before  a  much  more  august  tribunal  than  that 
of  the  Court  of  the  manor.  In  1554,  for  some  reason  not  given, 
he  was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  Privy  Council  at  West- 
minster. In  the  register  of  the  Council  there  is  a  minute  under 
date  November  18th,  ordering  "  certain  persons  to  attendeupon 
the  lorde  Cobham  at  Rochester  at  the  commyng  in  of  the  lorde 
Cardynall  Pole,  and  from  thence  to  Gravesend."  Two  days 
later  another  meeting  of  Council  was  held,  when  letters  of 
appearance  were  addressed  from  their  lordships  to  "  baylief 
Williams,  George  Walton,  gent.,  Bunyon,  victualler,  all  of 
Ellstowe,  in  the  Countie  of  Bedford,"  with  seven  other  persons 
from  the  same  parish,  whose  names  were  also  given.*  The 
mention  of  Cardinal  Pole  at  this  time  is  suggestive  of  the 
returning  tide  of  Papal  power  in  England.  Was  it  for  his 
Protestantism  that  Bunyon  the  victualler  was  summoned  before 
the  Privy  Council  of  Queen  Mary  ? 

The  Court  Roll  of  the  manor,  interesting  as  it  is  in 
itself,  is  interesting  also  as  furnishing  incidental  confirma- 
tion of  the  tradition  among  the  people  of  Elstow  as  to 
the  exact  spot  which  was  Bunyan's  birthplace.  There  is  a 
cottage  shown  in  the  village  street  as  Bunyan's  cottage,  in 
which  there  is  no  doubt  he  lived  for  some  time  after  his 
marriage  ;  but  the  ancients  of  the  place  have  always  main- 
tained that  he  was  born  in  the  eastern  fields  of  the  parish, 
and  close  to  the  hamlet  of  Ilarrowden.  That  extremity  of  the 
parish  they  called  Bunyan's  End — the  name  by  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  it  was  known  eighty  years  before  Bunyan  was  born, 
and  probably  for  centuries  earlier.  A  pathway  in  the  fields 
was  spoken  of  as  Bunyan's  Walk  ;  two  fields  on  the  slope 
beyond  the  southern  stream  still  go  by  the  name  of  "  Bunyans" 
*  Privy  Council  Register,  1553 — 1558,  p.  189. 


1554]     ELSTOJT  AXD  THE  BUXYAXS  OF  ELSTOJV.       'i\\ 

and  "  farther  Buiiyans  "  among  the  labourers  on  the  farm ; 
and  finally,  with  the  persistence  of  English  village  names,  the 
piece  of  land  between  the  two  streams  is  still  known  as  "  the 
furlono"  called  Pesselvnton,"  as  the  Roll  shows  it  was  in 
the  days  of  Henry  VIII.  AVhon,  in  addition,  we  remember 
that  a  small  farmer  named  John  Ixogers,  who  died  in  the 
villao-e  of  Elstow  in  18-39,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-two, 
and  whose  great-grandfather,  living  in  the  next  house  to  the 


Mai-  of  liKDFoun   ash  Ei.ktow,   siiowino   Blnyan'b  liiuxiU'LACE. 
Scale— One  incli  to  n  mile. 


liunyans,  was  John  Banyan's  playfellow,  frequently  pointed 
out  to  his  neighbours  as  the  dreamer's  birthplace  tlie  ])ie('o  of 
land  south  of  "  Cardyngton  broke  "  described  l)y  tlie  Ivoll  of  the 
manor  as  IJonyon's  Mini,  we  I'eel  at  once  that  State  document 
and  popular  tradition  combine  to  give  us  certainty  us  to  the  site. 
Iiefore  passing  from  the  sixteenth  century  to  the  seventeenth, 
there  is  one  point  of  literary   interest  on  which   foi-  a  iiioinciil 


30  JOHN  BTINYAN.  [chap.  ii. 

we  are  tempted  to  linger.  The  Court  EoU,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, describes  Bonyon's  End  as  having  on  both  sides  of  it 
the  land  of  John  Gascoign,  knight.  Sir  John  was  at  that  time 
living  at  Cardington,  the  adjacent  parish,  where  his  son  George 
was  born  about  1525.  So  that  George  Gascoigne,  our  earliest 
English  satirist,  and  John  Bunyan,  our  greatest  religious 
allegorist,  were  born  within  a  mile  of  each  other,  and  on  ancestral 
lands  which  interlaced.  Gascoigne,  with  not  a  little  original 
genius  and  freshness  of  thought,  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  our 
strictly  vernacular  poets.  It  is  said  that  Shakespeare's  Winter's 
Tale  was  partly  suggested  by  the  joint  version  of  the  Phenissae 
by  Gascoigne  and  Kinwelmersh.*  He  had  certainly  not  a  few 
quaint  touches  and  homely  thrusts  such  as  Bunyan  himself 
might  have  written ;  as  when  he  says  that  "  he  who  will  throw 
a  stone  at  everie  dogge  which  barketh  had  neede  of  a  great 
satchell  or  pocket ;"  or  when,  in  after  years,  regretting  his 
wanton,  wasted  youth,  he  says :  "  I  have  loytred,  I  confesse, 
when  the  sunne  did  shine,  and  now  I  strive  al  in  vaine  to  loade 
the  cart  when  it  raineth.  I  regarded  not  my  comelynes  in  the 
May-moone  of  my  youth,  and  yet  now  I  stand  prinking  me  in 
the  glasse,  when  the  crowes  foote  is  growen  under  mine  eye." 
Gascoigne's  Steele  Glas,  Shakespeare's  mirror  held  up  to  Nature 
before  Shakespeare's  time,  was  "  a  glasse  wherein  each  man 
may  see  within  his  mind  what  canckred  vices  be."  A  priest 
"  more  saucie  than  the  rest  "  asks  when  he  may  leave  off  pray- 
ing for  people  that  do  amiss,  to  whom  the  poet  makes  reply  : — 

"  T  tel  thee  (priest)  when  shoomakers  make  shoes, 
That  are  wel  sowed,  with  never  a  stitch  amisse, 
When  taylors  steale  no  stuffe  from  gentlemen, 
When  tinkers  make  no  more  holes  than  they  founde. 
When  thatchers  thinke  their  wages  worth  their  worko, 
When  Davie  Diker  diggs  and  dallies  not, 
When  smiths  shoo  horses  as  they  would  be  shod, 
When  millers  toll  not  with  a  golden  thumbe, 
When  weavers  weight  is  found  in  housewives'  web  : 
When  al  these  things  are  ordered  as  they  ought, 
And  see  themselves  within  my  glasse  of  bteele. 
Even  then  (my  priests)  may  you  make  holy  day, 
And  pray  no  more  but  ordinarie  prayers." 

*  The  Complete  Poems  of  George  Gascoigne :  Collected  and  edited  for  the  Rox- 
burghe  Library,  by  W.  C.  Hazlitt,  18G9.     Two  vols.     4to. 


1602-17.]   ELSTOW  AXD  TEE  BUXYAXS  OF  FL^TOTT.    31 

There  is  something  in  these  lines  from  Thomas  Bunyau's 
racy  neighbour  at  Cardington  which  seems  to  remind  us  of  his 
own  descendant,  and  having  thus  connected  the  two  for  a 
moment  in  our  minds,  we  may  now  return  once  more  to  the 
Bunyans  themselves.  Of  them,  after  the  Court  Ixoll,  of 
looO,  and  the  Privy  Council  minute  of  1554,  we  know  nothing 
more  till  1603,  when  the  Transcript  Hegisters  commence. 
The  Parish  Register  of  Elstow  for  the  period  earlier  than  1641 
has  long  been  lost,  but  fortunately  the  returns  sent  year  by 
year  to  the  Registry,  in  accordance  with  the  canon  of  1603, 
come  to  our  assistance.  Almost  the  first  entry  we  find  in  the 
first  return  from  Elstow  is  that  of  the  baptism  of  John 
Bunyan's  father,  which  is  recorded  thus : — 

100-2-3  :  "  Thomas  the  Sonne  of  Thomas  Bunyon  the  xxiiij"'  daye 
of  ffebr." 

The  mother  of  the  child  then  baptized  may  have  died  in  giv- 
ing him  birth,  for  towards  the  end  of  the  same  year  Thomas 
Bunyon,  the  father,  was  again  married  at  Elstow  Church  to 
Elizabeth  Leigh.  This  Thomas,  the  elder,  the  grandfather  of 
John,  lived  on  till  1641,  and  describes  himself  in  his  will  as  a 
"  pettie  chapman,"  or  small  village  trader.  Like  his  grandson 
after  him  he  appears  not  to  have  been  quite  so  submissive  to 
the  authorities  of  the  time  as  they  could  have  desired.  Two, 
and  only  two  time-worn  Act-Books  of  the  Archdeaconry  of 
Bedford  relating  to  the  times  of  James  I.  have  been  preserved. 
From  one  of  these  we  find  that  at  the  Court  held  at  Ampthill, 
October  21st,  1617,  two  of  the  Elstow  parishioners  were  pre- 
sented by  the  churchwardens  before  the  commissary.  One  of 
these  was  Thomas  Cranfield,  who  was  charged  with  "  refusing 
to  sit  in  a  seat  of  the  church  where  the  churchwardens  placed 
him  ;"  the  other  was  Thomas  Bonion,  who  was  presented  for 
telling  the  churchwardens  they  were  "  forsworne  men."  Feeling 
was  evidently  running  high  just  then,  and  indeed  that  year 
matters  ecclesia.stical  were  altogether  in  a  bad  way  in  Elstow, 
for  three  months  later  the  vicar  of  the  ])arish  himself,  Henry 
Bird,  was  presented  at  the  same  court  Ibr  neglecting  his  cure  ; 
"  on  Sonday  was  a  fortnight  there  was  noe  service,"  and  on 
unothor  occa.sion  "  Uoso  Ravens  of  Elstowc  was  cilfd  for 
churching  herself,  the  minister  being  at  home." 


•S2  JO  Eli  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ii. 

Seven  other  children  were  born  to  the  elder  Thomas  Bonion 
after  the  birth  of  Banyan's  father,  four  of  whom  died  in 
infancy.  He  himself  surviving  till  1641,  made  his  will  on  the 
25th  of  November  in  that  year,  in  which  he  describes  himself 
as,  "  I  Thomas  Bonyon  of  the  parish  of  Elstowe  in  the  countie  of 
Bedford,  Pettie  Chapman,  being  sicke  of  bodie  but  of  perfect 
remembrance,  thanks  be  given  to  Almightie  God,  doe  make  and 
ordayne  this  my  last  Will  and  Testament  in  manner  and  forme 
following  That  is  to  say  First  I  give  and  bequeath  my  soule 
into  the  handes  of  Almightie  God  my  Creator  assuringe  myselfe 
by  the  death  and  passion  of  my  blessed  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  to 
receive  pardon  and  remission  for  all  my  sinnes  and  that  my 
soule  shall  be  received  into  his  heavenly  kingdome  ther  to 
rest  with  him  for  ever  And  my  bodie  to  the  earth  whereof  it 
IS  made  to  be  buried  in  Christian  buriall  at  the  discreson  of  my 
executrix  hereafter  named  And  for  the  worldly  goods  that 
God  hath  blessed  me  withall  I  doe  dispose  of  as  followeth 
Item  I  give  and  bequeath  to  Anne  Bonyon  my  wife  [his 
third  wife]  after  my  decease  the  Cottage  or  Tenement  where- 
in I  doe  now  dwell  with  the  appurtenances  during  the 
tearme  of  her  naturall  life  And  after  the  decease  of  Anne 
Bonyon  my  said  wife  I  give  and  bequeath  the  said  Cottage  or 
Tenement  with  the  appurtenances  unto  my  Two  Sonnes  Thomas 
Bonyon  and  Edward  Bonyon  and  their  Heires  for  ever  to  be 
equally  parted  and  devided  between  them  after  the  decease  of 
my  said  wifFe."  He  further  leaves  the  sum  of  £5  to  his 
daughter,  Elizabeth  Watson,  the  wife  of  Thomas  Watson,  and 
to  his  grandchildren,  of  whom,  of  course  John  Bunyan  was  one, 
"  sixe  pence  a  peece  toe  bee  paied  them  when  they  accomplish 
their  severale  ages  of  one  and  twentie  yeares."  Everything  else 
he  leaves  to  Anne  Bonyon,  his  loveing  wife,  whom  he  makes 
whole  and  sole  executrix,  concluding  thus  :  "  I  doe  further 
make  and  ordayne  Thomas  Carter  of  Kempston  in  the  said 
countie  of  Bedford,  gentleman,  my  loveinge  and  Kind  Friend, 
overseer  of  this  my  last  Will  and  Testament  And  do  give  him 
Twelve  pence  in  remembrance  for  his  paines  to  be  taken  in 
seeinge  this  my  last  Will  and  Testament  duly  and  truly 
executed."*     The   document  was  signed  with    a  cross  in  the 

*  Bedfordshire  Wills,  1641.     No.  202. 


REGISTERS. 


1G03. 


^  7^^'^^jtr^--Z^^/jf^^^r-' 


603. 


>rn^c/Cn\o^&rn^^ 


NOVEMBEK. 


1G27. 

TTiETii  or  JIav. 


^AMA^rni 


1627.1     ELSTOW  AND  THE  BUXYANS  OF  ELSTOW.       33 

presence  of  Henry  Latham  and  "Walter  Cooper,  and  was  proved 
before  Walter  Walker  on  the  14th  of  December,  lt)41. 

Thomas  Bonyon,  the  son  of  this  man  and  the  father  of  John, 
was  first  married  to  Anne  Pinney,  at  Elstow  Church,  on  the 
10th  of  January,  1623,  when  he  was  in  his  twentieth  year.  In 
1G27  Anne  died,  and  so  far  as  the  register  shows,  died  childless. 
The  same  year  he  came  again  to  Elstow  Church  to  be  married, 
this  time  to  the  wife  who  was  to  be  the  mother  of  his  illustrious 
son.  As  we  did  not,  till  the  recent  search  among  the  Tran- 
script Registers,  know  the  maiden  name  of  the  mother  of  the 
Dreamer,  it  may  be  well  to  give  the  entry  in  full,  which  is  as 
follows  : — ■ 

1627.  "Thomas  Bonnionn,  Junr.,  and  Margaret  Bentley  were 
married  the  three  and  twentieth  of  May." 

We  who,  in  the  course  of  modern  thought,  have  come  to 
attach  so  much  importance  to  hereditary  transmission,  would 
have  been  glad  to  know  more  than  we  do  of  the  character  and 
personality  of  the  parents  of  one  who  occupies  so  prominent  a 
place  in  English  literature,  and  who  was  so  unmistakably  a 
child  of  genius.  Unfortunately,  their  son,  while  telling  so  much 
about  his  o\NTi  inward  experiences,  tells  us  but  little  concerning 
his  father  and  mother.  Even  the  little  he  does  tell  seems  as  if 
it  ought  to  be  qualified.  When  we  remember  that  the  wills  (»f 
his  father  and  grandfather,  and  of  his  maternal  grandmother 
have  been  preserved  in  the  Registry  of  the  District  Court  of 
Probate  from  a  time  when  the  poorest  of  the  poor  never  made 
any  wills  at  all,  and  that  the  house  in  which  he  was  born  had 
been  the  property  of  his  ancestors  from  time  immemorial,  it 
would  seem  as  if  Bunyan  in  his  humility  had  depreciated  the 
social  position  of  his  family  more  than  he  had  need.  lie  says, 
"  For  my  descent  then,  it  was,  as  is  well  known  by  many,  of  a 
low  and  inconsiderable  generation,  my  father's  house  being  of 
that  rank  that  is  meanest  and  most  despised  of  all  the  families 
in  the  land."  That  these  expressions  ought  not  to  carry  the 
full  force  they  carry  to-day  is  shuwii  liy  the  fact  lie  proceeds  to 
state.  "  But  yet,  notwithhtanding  the  meanness  and  incon- 
siderablcnesa  of  my  parents,  it  pleaded  (iod  to  put  il  into  their 
hoart«  lo  put  me  to  school  to  leurn  both  to  read  and  write,  the 

D 


34  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ii. 

whict  I  also  attained  according  to  the  rate  of  other  poor  men's 
children."  Still,  when  all  fair  deductions  are  made,  Bunyan's 
parents  were  poor  enough  no  doubt,  and  the  struggle  of  life 
with  them  keen  enough.  It  need  scarcely  be  said,  however, 
that  he  was  not  the  man  to  give  forth  unmanly  wailings  about 
the  lowliness  of  his  position  or  the  hardships  of  his  lot.  In  his 
own  hearty  religious  fashion  he  sums  up  the  question  by  saying  : 
"  Though  I  have  not  here,  as  others,  to  boast  of  noble  blood  or 
of  a  high-born  state  according  to  the  flesh,  all  things  considered 
I  magnify  the  heavenly  Majesty  for  that  by  this  door  he 
brought  me  into  this  world,  to  partake  of  the  grace  and  life 
that  is  in  Christ  by  the  Gospel." 

Thomas  Bunyan,  his  father,  usually  spoken  of  as  a  tinker, 
described  himself  in  his  will  as  a  "  braseyer."  *  Working  at  his 
forge  by  the  cottage  in  the  fields,  repairing  the  tools  and  utensils 
of  his  neighbours  at  Elstow  or  Harrowden,  or  wandering  for  the 
purposes  of  his  trade  from  one  lonely  farmhouse  to  another,  he 
would  be  neither  better  nor  worse  than  the  rest  of  the  craftsmen 
of  the  hammer  and  the  forge.  "We  may  perhaps  regard  this 
tinker  of  Elstow  as  the  counterpart  of  the  tinker  of  Turvey,  a 
well-known  character  of  those  times,  who  lived  some  half-dozen 
miles  away  across  the  fields,  and  who  is  supposed,  in  the  year  of 
grace  1630,  to  have  "hammered  out  an  epistle  to  all  strolling 
Tinckers  and  all  brave  mettle-men  that  travel  on  the  Hoofe." 
In  this  production  of  his  he  boasts  of  the  country  he  has  be- 
stridden, the  towns  he  has  traversed,  and  of  the  fairs  in  which 
he  has  been  drunk.  He  claims  that  "  all  music  first  came  from 
the  hammer,"  that  "the  tincker  is  a  rare  fellow,"  for  that  "he 
is  a  scholler  and  was  of  Brazen-nose  Colledge  in  Oxford,  an 
excellent  carpenter,  for  he  builded  Coppersmith's  Hall."  f 
Thomas  Bunyan  may  not  have  been  to  the  full  the  roy storing 
blade  this  brother  "  mettle-man  "  was,  but  in  the  course  of  his 
rounds  he  would  meet  with  him  and  the  like  of  him,  and  under 
the  trees  of  the  village  green  or  on  the  settle  of  the  village  Inn 
could  probably  tell  as  good  a  story  and  perhaps  drink  as  deep. 

*  In  the  books  of  the  Norwich  Freemen  the  "brasyers  "  included  pewterers, 
plomers,  and  belyaters,  or  boll-founders. — Eye's  History  of  Norfolk.     1885. 

t  TJic  Tinker  of  Turvey,  or  Canterbury  Tales,  London,  1630.  Edited  by 
J.  0.  HalliweU,  F.R.S. 


1632. J     ELSTOW  AXD  THE  BUNTANS  OF  ELSTOJT       To 

Margaret  Bunyan,  the  tinker's  wife,  and  the  Dreamer's 
mother,  like  her  husband,  was  a  native  of  Elstow,  being  born 
there  in  the  same  year  in  which  he  was  born,  as  the  followintr 
entry  from  the  Transcript  Register  shows  : — 

1G03.  "  Margarett  Bentley,  danghtor  of  Wm.  Bentley,  was  C. 
[christened]  the  xiij°  of  November." 

Though  her  parents,  "William  Bentley  and  Mary  Goodwin 
were  married,  in  1601,  at  St.  Paul's  Church,  in  Bedford,  we 
may  infer  that  since  Mary  Bentley,  her  grandmother,  died  in 
Elstow,  as  a  widow,  in  1G13,  the  Bentlcys,  like  the  Bunyans, 
had  been  long  resident  in  the  parish.  Their  names  do  not 
occur  in  the  Court  Roll  of  Elstow  between  1542  and  1550,  but 
are  found  in  the  earliest  Transcript  Register.  In  any  case, 
as  they  were  both  born  in  Elstow  in  the  same  year,  ISIargaret 
Bentley  had  known  Thomas  Bunyan  all  her  life,  when  in  1627, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  she  was  married  to  him  in  Elstow 
Church,  her  sister  Rose  being  also  married  to  his  brother 
Edward  the  following  year.  Her  mother  died  as  a  widow  in 
1632,  though  in  what  year  her  father  died  the  register  omits 
to  state.  Her  mother's  will,  drawn  up  in  the  neat,  scholarly 
handwriting  of  John  Kellie,  the  vicar  of  Elstow,  giving  as  it 
does  some  idea  of  the  social  condition  of  John  Bunyan's  mother 
before  her  marriage,  as  well  as  a  Dutch-like  picture  of  an 
Elstow  cottage  interior  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  may 
in  part  at  least  be  worth  recording. 

It  was  on  the  27th  of  Juno,  1632,  that  "  Mary  Bentley,  of 
Elnestoe  in  the  countie  of  Bedford,  widow,"  after  bequeatliing 
her  soul  to  Almighty  God  her  Maker  in  whom  she  hopes  to  bo 
saved  through  Jesus  Christ  her  Saviour,  and  her  body  to  bo 
buried  in  the  churchy.ird  at  I'Jnesloo,  goes  on  to  say  :  "  Item  I 
give  and  bcqueatli  to  Jcjlm  Bentley  my  sonne  one  brasse  pott, 
one  little  table  and  all  the  painted  cluaths  about  the  house  and 
the  standing  Bed  in  the  loft.  Item  I  give  to  my  daughter  Mar- 
garet the  joined  stoolo  in  the  chamber  and  my  little  case. 
Item  I  give  to  my  daughter  Rosso  tho  Joined  Itirnir  in  I  ho 
chamber  and  a  Ilognhead  and  thcdumbe  flake.  Item  1  give  to 
my  daughter  Elizabeth  the  lesser  kettle  and  the  biggest  plater, 
a  flaxen   sheet  and   a  flaxen  pillowbere,  a  trumell  bed  and  a 

1)2 


36  JOHN  BUNT  AN.  [chap.  ii. 

coffer  in  tlie  chamber  and  the  table  sheet.  Item  I  give  to 
my  daughter  Anie  my  best  hatt,  my  best  cuffe,  my  gowne, 
my  best  petticoate,  the  presse  in  the  chamber,  the  best  boulster 
and  blankett,  the  coffe  above,  the  skillet  and  a  pewter  platter, 
and  the  other  trummle  bed,  a  harder  sheet  and  a  pillo where." 
All  else  she  gives  and  bequeaths  to  her  daughter  Mary,  whom 
she  makes  sole  executrix,  and  whom  she  charges  to  see  her 
"honestly  buried"  and  her  " buriall  discharged."  The  will 
was  attested  by  John  Kellie,  the  vicar  of  Elstow,  and  Margerie 
Jaques,  a  widow,  and  was  proved  in  the  October  following. 
The  cottage  equipments,  and  the  way  they  are  described, 
seem  to  indicate  that  Margaret  Bunyan  came  not  of  the  very 
squalid  poor,  but  of  people  who,  though  humble  in  station,  were 
yet  decent  and  worthy  in  their  ways,  and  took  an  honourable 
pride  in  the  simple  belongings  of  their  village  home. 

Scanty  as  are  the  references  which  Bunyan  makes  to  his 
father,  those  to  his  mother  are  scantier  still.  This  may  arise 
partly  from  the  fact  that  she  died  before  he  reached  the  age  of 
sixteen,  and  his  remembrance  of  her  may  have  been  dim  and 
distant  when  two  and  twenty  years  later  he  wrote  that  story  of 
his  life  which  we  find  in  the  "  Grace  Abounding."  It  is  of 
course  useless  to  speculate  much  where  we  know  so  little,  yet 
we  are  tempted  to  think  that  the  mother  of  a  child  so  much 
above  the  common  kind  must  herself  have  been  a  woman  of 
more  than  common  power.  We  should  not  be  surprised  to  be 
told  that  she  was  one  of  those  strongly-marked  personalities 
sometimes  met  with  in  English  village  life — a  woman  of  racy, 
ready  wit,  and  of  picturesque  power  of  expression,  who,  Mrs. 
Poyser-like,  had  a  very  distinct  individuality  of  her  own,  and 
the  capacity  of  making  a  very  distinct  impression  upon  those 
around  her.  Unfortunately  to  us  she  is  little  more  than  a  name, 
and  we  recall  her  for  a  moment  from  the  nameless  crowd  and 
from  the  midst  of  her  "  homely  joys  and  destiny  obscure  " 
because  of  the  one  great  event  of  her  life,  the  birth  of  her 
distinguished  son,  her  first-born.  The  record  of  that  event 
quietly  takes  its  place  in  the  list  of  the  nineteen  christenings  of 
that  year,  at  Elstow  Church,  in  the  following  form  : — 

1628.  "John  the  sonue  of  Thomas  Bonnionn,  Junr.  the  30th  of 
Novemb." 


1628.]     FLSTOW  AXD  THE  nUNTANS  OF  ELSTOW.       .17 

The  return  is  sifjiied  by  John  Kellie,  minister,  and  Anthony 
Manley  and  "William  Allerson,  churchwardens.  The  entry  is 
commonphice  enough,  and  made  in  the  same  routine  fashion  as 
were  hundreds  more,  yet  as  we  read,  the  record  becomes  more 
than  usually  suggestive  of  the  simple  beginnings  of  a  great, 


EuTow    Chukch    fhom    the 
Fishponds. 


.\HIIK> 


strong  life.    r)nce  again  we  seem 

to  see  the  wondrous  babe  carried 

on  that  last  of  the  chill  days  of 

the  Xovembor  of  H)2<S  to  Klstow 

Church.       Rude   was    the    little 

cradle  out  of  which  he  was  lifted,  and  common-place  the  cottage, 

with  its  grimy  forge,  out  of  which  he  was  carried.     Looking  at 

all  his  unpromising  surroundings,  tlu're  comes  into  our  niin<l8 

u  rustic  story  told  about  the  father  of  this  <:hild   by  quaint  old 

Thomas  Archer,  the  rector  of  Houghton  Concjuest,  parish  next 

neighbour  to  Klstow  itself.     The  delightful  old  man  kept  tt  sort 


38  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  ii. 

of  chronicon  mirahile  of  the  little  rural  world  in  which,  king's 
chaplain  as  he  was,  his  tranquil  days  were  spent,  and  in  his 
record,  as  a  curiosity  of  natural  history,  he  sets  down  this : 
"  Memorandum. — That  in  Anno  1625  one  Bonion  of  Elsto 
clyminge  of  Rookes  neasts  in  the  Bery  wood  ffound  3  Rookes 
in  a  nest,  all  white  as  milke  and  not  a  blacke  fether  on  them." 

Vividly  the  whole  scene  comes  back  to  us.  This  "  Bonion 
of  Elsto,"  the  father  of  the  Dreamer,  wandering  in  vacant 
mood  in  the  EUensbury  Wood,  looks  and  wonders  at  the  three 
milk-white  birds  in  the  black  rook's  nest.  And  as  we  watch 
him,  the  surprise  on  his  face  becomes  symbol  and  presage  of 
a  wider  world's  wonder  than  his,  the  wonder  with  which  men 
find  in  the  rude  nest  of  his  own  tinker's  cottage  a  child  all 
lustrous  with  the  gifts  of  genius,  a  life  memorable  in  the 
literature  of  the  great  world  stretching  far  away  beyond 
Elstow  Green,  and  memorable,  too,  in  the  spiritual  history 
and  experience  of  many  souls  in  many  nations  through  the 
centuries  to  come. 


III. 

THE  CIVIL  WARS. 

The  cottage  at  Bunyan's  End  in  which  Bunyan  was  born  has 

long  since  disappeared.     Portions  of  it  were  still  remaining  at 

the  close  of  last  century,  but  the  site  was  shortly  after  ploughed 

up,  and,  with  the  nine  acres  of  land  once  belonging  to  it,  was 

added  to  the  neighbouring  farm.  It  stood  at  the  foot  of  a  gently 

sloping  hill,  and  between  two  streams  which,   after  enclosing 

"the  furlong  called  Pesselynton,"  met  a  little  farther  on  in  the 

hamlet  of  Harrowden.     One  of  these  streams  flowed  close  past 

the  cottage,  and  after  heavy  rains  turned  the  field  behind,  as 

the  land  still  shows,  into  a  veritable  Slough  of  Despond,  into 

which  whosoever  wandered  stuck  fast  in  miry  perplexity. 

Thomas  Bunyan's  family,  living  only  a  few  yards   within 

the  Elstow  parish  boundary,  were  almost  as  near  to  Bedford 

town  as  to  Elstow  Church,  the  spire  of  St.  Paul's  seen  through 

the  elm- trees  from  the  top   of  the  grassy  slope  to   the  south, 

being  only  about  a  mile  away.     A  bridle-road   from  Wilstead 

through  Medbury,  passing  near  the  front  of  the  cottage,  took 

the  line  of  the  willow-trees  still  to  be  seen  in  the  hedgerow 

and  joining  the  main  road  at  the  leper  house  of  St.  Leonard, 

went  into   the  town  by  the  ancient  hospital  of   St.  John.     If 

Bunyan  was  sent  to  Bedford   to   school  rather  than  to  Elstow 

village,  this  would  be  the  path   he  took.     In  the  '*  Scriptural 

Poems,"  published  as  his  in  his  collected   works,*  there  are 

these  lines : — 

*'  For  I'm  no  poet,  nor  a  poet's  son, 
l?iit  a  mechanic  friiidcd  by  no  rule 
]tut  w)iat  I  gained  in  u  (^rummur  school, 
In  my  minority." 

If  these  lines  were  really  Bunyan's  own,  they  would  settle  the 
•  OaWs  i/Jilion,  1802,  II.,  390. 


40  JOHN  BUKTAK  [chap.  ra. 

point  that  lie  was  educated  at  Bedford  on  the  foundation  of 
Sir  William  Harpur ;  but,  to  say  the  least,  their  genuineness  is 
very  doubtful.  No  one  seems  to  have  heard  of  these  poems  till 
twelve  years  after  Bunyan's  death.  Charles  Doe,  who  saw  in  the 
possession  of  his  eldest  son  John,  all  the  unprinted  MSS.  Bunyan 
left  behind  him,  makes  no  mention  of  them  either  in  the 
catalogue  of  1692,  or  in  the  one  still  more  carefully  drawn  up 
in  1698.  And  when  we  look  at  the  poems  themselves  there  is 
certainly  but  little  to  remind  us  of  Bunyan's  special  vein.  It 
may  readily  be  granted  that  his  attempts  at  poetry  do  not  show 
him  at  his  best,  that  his  muse  "  is  clad  in  russet,  wears  shoes 
and  stockings,  has  a  country  accent,  and  walks  along  the 
level  Bedfordshire  roads,"  yet  even  in  his  rudest  rhymes 
there  is  pith  and  power,  occasionally  a  dash  of  genius,  and 
a  certain  sparkle  of  soul  nowhere  to  be  found  in  these 
"  Scriptural  Poems  "  set  forth  under  his  name  for  the  first  time 
in  1700.* 

The  line  about  the  grammar  school,  therefore,  must  be  counted 
for  little.  That  he  did  go  to  school,  however,  Bunyan  tells  us 
himself.  Poor  as  his  parents  were,  "  it  pleased  God  to  put  it 
iuto  their  hearts  to  put  me  to  school  to  learn  both  to  read  and 
write."  The  scholarship  thus  acquired  was  of  course  of  the 
slenderest,  "  according  to  the  rate  of  other  poor  men's  chil- 
dren," and  the  little  he  learned  was  soon  lost,  "  even  almost 
utterly."     If  he  went  to  Elstow,  school  inspectors  had  not  yet 

*  Scriptural  Poems,  &c.,  by  John  Bunyan.  London,  printed  for  J.  Blare,  at 
the  Looking  Glass  on  London  Bridge,  1700.  The  doubtfulness  of  this  work  is 
increased  by  the  name  of  the  publisher.  As  early  as  1688,  Blare  had  published 
in  Bunyan's  name  a  spurious  book  entitled  The  Saints'  Triumph.  In  1705 
also  he  issued  a  shameless  book  under  the  title  of  T/ie  Progress  of  the  Christian 
Pilgrim,  which  was  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  merely  latinized,  but  on  the  title 
page  of  which  there  was  no  mention  of  Bunyan's  name.  The  veil  under  which 
the  book  was  disguised  was  the  most  transparent  possible :  Christian  became 
Christianus  ;  PUable,  Easie ;  Worldly  Wiseman,  Politick  Worldly  ;  and  so  on. 
This  man  who  carried  on  the  business  at  the  "Looking  Glass"  on  London 
Bridge,  was  a  repeated  offender  against  the  laws  of  honest  dealing,  and  he  is 
almost  certainly  one  of  the  men  to  whom  Nathaniel  Ponder  referred  in  1688, 
when  on  the  reverse  of  the  title  of  Bunyan's  One  Thing  is  Needful,  he  printed 
the  following  :  ' '  Advertisement — This  author  having  published  many  books 
which  have  gone  oft'  very  well :  there  are  certain  ballad -sellers  about  Newgate 
and  on  London  Bridge,  who  have  put  the  two  first  letters  of  this  author's  name 
and  his  effigies  to  their  rimes  and  ridiculous  books,  suggesting  to  the  world  as  if 
they  were  his." 


1G44.]  THE  CIVIL    JT'AIIS.  41 

risen  above  the  village  Lorizon,  and  even  tlie  endowed  founda- 
tions in  the  neighbourhood  had  fallen  upon  evil  days.  The 
Free  School  of  Sir  Francis  Clarke,  in  the  neighbouring  parish 
of  Houghton  Conquest,  had  its  master,  Christopher  Hills,  dis- 
placed by  the  master  and  fellows  of  Sidney  Sussex  College,  in 
104-5,  "for  his  wilful  neglect  and  forsaking  of  the  schools 
contrary  to  our  trust  reposed  in  him."  *  And  the  then  modest 
foundation  of  Sir  William  Harpur  at  Bedford  in  those  days 
fared  no  better.  A  petition  referring  to  the  time  when  Bunyan 
was  between  nine  and  twelve  years  of  age  complains  that 
AVilliam  Varncy,  the  schoolmaster,  had  not  only  charged  fees 
which  he  had  no  right  to  do,  but  had  also  "  grossly  neglected 
the  school  by  frequent  absence  from  it,  by  night-walking  and 
mis-spending  his  time  in  taverns  and  ale-houses,  and  is  also 
very  cruel  when  present  to  the  boys."  "f 

In  any  case,  school-days  were  few,  if  not  evil,  for  the  tinker's 
son.  The  education  he  received  was  mainly  that  given  in  the 
great  school  of  human  life  where  so  many  other  sturdy  natures 
have  received  such  effective  training.  "  I  never  went  to  school 
to  Aristotle  or  Plato,"  says  he,  "but  was  brought  up  at  my 
father's  house  in  a  very  mean  condition,  among  a  company  of 
poor  countrymen."  In  the  cottage  by  the  stream  bread-eaters 
must  as  soon  as  possible  become  bread-winners,  and  Bunyan 
passed  quickly  enough  from  the  bench  of  his  master  to  the 
forge  of  his  father,  necessity,  if  not  choice,  indicating  that  he 
must  be  a  "  braseyer  "  too. 

The  growing  lad  had  been  at  work  some  time  when  there 
came  to  him,  in  his  sixteenth  year,  the  first  great  sorrow  of  his 
life;  for  in  the  June  days  of  1G14  his  mother  sickened  and  died, 
and  within  anotlier  month  his  si-^ter  Margaret  also,  the  play- 
mute  of  his  childhood,  was  carried  across  the  fiehls  to  the  same 
quiet  grave  in  Elstow  Churchyard.  Nor  was  this  all.  Before 
yet  another  month  hud  gone  by  over  this  twice-opened  grave, 
his  father  bud  brought  homo  unother  wife  to  take  the  vacant 
place.  This  indignity  to  his  mother's  memory,  which  the  lad 
was  old  enough  to  understand  and  aflrctionato  enough  keenly 
to  resent,  must  have  estranged  him  from  his  father  and  his 
home,     'i'he   removal   of  the  gentler  influence  of  mother  and 

•   Jlarl.  Jl.'i.S.,  illf),  TJ.  t   llutuoofLordv  MSS. 


42  JOHN  BUNYAN".  [chap.  iii. 

sister  at  tlie  formative  period  of  life,  and  the  revulsion  of  feel- 
ing created  by  the  indecent  haste  with  which  his  father  married 
again,  may  have  had  not  a  little  to  do  with  those  wild  and 
wilful  ways  of  the  next  few  years,  which  he  lived  to  describe 
so  vividly  and  to  repent  so  bitterly. 

It  was  probably  about  six  or  eight  months  after  his  mother's 
death  that  Bunyan  entered  the  Army,  and  had  those  experiences 
of  a  soldier's  life  to  which  he  makes  brief  reference  in  the 
"  Grace  Abounding."  Earlier  it  could  not  have  been,  for  it  was 
not  till  November,  1644,  that  he  had  reached  the  then  Army 
regulation  age  of  sixteen.  And  it  is  not  probable  that  his 
military  life  was  prolonged  beyond  a  few  months ;  for  in  the 
month  of  June,  1645,  the  battle  of  Naseby  practically  ended  the 
first  Civil  War,  leaving  only  the  fag  end  to  wear  itself  out  in 
the  West.  The  side  on  which  Bunyan  was  arrayed  in  the 
great  civil  conflict  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Parliamentarian 
or  Royalist,  has  long  been  matter  of  dispute.  Lord  Macaulay 
says  that  "  he  enlisted  in  the  Parliamentary  army,  and  served 
during  the  decisive  campaign  of  1645."  The  reason  for  this 
opinion  is  probably  given  in  the  further  statement  that  "  his 
Greatheart,  his  Captain  Boanerges,  and  his  Captain  Credence 
are  evidently  portraits,  of  which  originals  were  among  those 
martial  saints  who  fought  and  expounded  in  Fairfax's  army."* 
On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Froude  says  that  "  probability  is  on 
the  side  of  his  having  been  with  the  Poyalists,"  giving  as  the 
reason  for  this  opinion  that  his  father  was  of  "  the  national 
religion,"  and  that  John  Gifibrd,  the  minister  at  Bedford,  had 
been  a  Iloyalist.f  Whatever  weight  may  be  attached  to  his 
father's  sympathies — and  there  is  no  doubt  about  these,  for  he 
had  a  son  christened  Charles  on  the  30th  of  May,  1645 — the 
reference  to  Giffbrd  is  out  of  all  historical  perspective.  Certainly 
his  opinions  can  have  had  very  little  to  do  with  the  side  Bunyan 
took  in  the  Civil  Wars,  seeing  that  Gilford  did  not  become 
minister  at  Bedford  till  1650,  and  that  these  two  men  did  not 
even  know  of  each  other's  existence  till  years  after  the  Civil 
Wars  were  over.  Perhaps  a  brief  consideration  of  the  course 
of  events  in  Bedfordshire  during  those  days  of  storm  and  stress 
may  help  us  to  a  probable  conclusion  on  the  point  at  issue,  and 

*  Biographies,  pp.  30,  31.         t  English  Men  of  Letters.     Bunyan.     p.  12. 


1645.]  THE  CIVIL   WARS.  43 

at  the  same  time  serve   to  make  more  vivid  the  surroundings 
of  Bunvan's  life. 

There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  side  which  Bedfordshire 
took  as  a  county.  "With  the  shires  of  Huntingdon,  Cam- 
bridge, Herts,  Essex,  Suffolk,  and  Norfolk,  it  formed  the 
Associated  Counties  from  which  Parliament  drew  its  main 
strength  and  supplies.  Clarendon  says  that  the  king  had  not 
in  Bedfordshire  "  any  visible  party,  nor  one  fixed  quarter." 
There  were  several  Koyalists  in  the  county,  of  course,  but 
they  do  not  seem  to  have  been  sufficiently  numerous  to 
organize  themselves  into  anything  like  effective  shape.  The 
Earl  of  Cleaveland,  of  Toddington,  spent  life  and  fortune 
in  the  King's  service,  but  chiefly  with  the  E-oyal  forces  at  a 
distance.  William  Gery  of  Bushmeade  raised  a  troop  of 
horse  in  the  county  of  Huntingdon,  and  his  brother  George 
was  with  the  King,  and  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of 
Naseby ;  the  two  brothers,  William  and  Richard  Taylor  of 
Clapham,  also  were  in  active  service,  and  surrendered  as 
prisoners  of  war,  the  one  at  Nantwich  and  the  other  at  Truro. 
Among  those  who  joined  the  king  at  Oxford  and  surrendered 
under  the  Articles  when  the  city  was  taken,  were  Henry,  Earl 
of  Peterborough,  of  Turvey,  who  was  a  minor  and  who  after- 
wards withdrew  to  France ;  Spencer  Potts  of  Chalgrave ; 
Thomas  Joyce,  the  vicar  of  Hawnes ;  Sir  Francis  Crawley  of 
Luton  ;  Edward  Russell,  the  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Bedford ; 
Sir  William  Palmer  of  Warden,  and  the  widow  and  son  of 
John  Wingate  of  Harlington.  Besides  those  who  surrendered 
at  Oxford,  other  Bedfordshire  Royalists  took  up  arms,  though 
it  is  not  known  in  what  engagements,  if  any,  they  took  part. 
Of  these,  Sir  Peter  O.sborn  of  Chicksand  went  beyond  seas  to 
escape  the  consequences  of  his  delinquency  ;  Richard  Conquest 
of  Houghton  Conquest  was  a  prisoner  in  the  King's  Bench  ; 
liobert  Spencer,  also,  of  Eaton  Socon,  was  for  some  time  a 
prisoner  of  war.  Besides  these,  there  were  Robert  And  ley  of 
Nortljill,  a  youth  of  seventeen;  ^lichael  Grigg  of  Dunstable; 
John  Russell,  a  younger  brotlier  of  the  Earl  of  Bedford  ; 
Thomas  Foster,  a  yeoman  of  Elstow,  and  Richard  Cooke  of 
Cran  field. 

\\[\\i    the    exception    of    those    who    were    excused    under 


44  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap.  in. 

the  Articles  of  Oxford,  the  Royalists  who  remained  in 
the  county  made  their  submission  to  Parliament,  took  the 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant  and  the  Negative  Oath,  and  com- 
pounded for  their  estates  at  Goldsmiths'  Hall.  Among  those 
who  thus  compounded  were  several  who,  though  they  did  not 
take  up  arms,  in  some  way  or  other  declared  their  sympathies. 
These  were  Lord  Capelle  of  Warden  ;  Sir  George  Bynnion  of 
Eaton  Socon  ;  Sir  Edward  Ashton  of  Wymington ;  Sir  Thomas 
Leigh  of  Leighton ;  Sir  Eohert  Napier  of  Luton  ;  Charles 
Ventriss  of  ShefFord  ;  Sir  John  Huet  of  Thurley  ;  Sir  Lodovick 
Dier  of  Colmworth  ;  Charles  Upton  of  Tempsford  ;  Humphrey 
Freemonger  of  Stanbridge ;  Mr.  Simley  of  Wootton ;  Mr. 
Watson  of  Ampthill ;  Mr.  Yarway,  and  Mr.  Browne  of 
Kempston  ;  and  Owen  Brett  of  Southill.  Some  of  these  com- 
pounded at  one-tenth  of  the  value  of  their  estates,  and  others 
at  one-sixth.  The  annual  value  of  the  sequestrations  in  houses, 
lands,  and  woods  in  the  town  and  county  of  Bedford  was 
£11,700.  The  entire  amount  sent  up  by  the  sequestrators  of 
the  county  to  the  public  treasurer  at  Guildhall  between  1644 
and  1647  was  £9,659  3s.  8d.  Of  this  a  very  small  portion 
indeed  came  from  the  town  of  Bedford,  which  appears  to  have 
gone  almost  entirely  one  way.  In  1648,  Francis  Bannister, 
the  mayor,  writes  officially  : — "  We  have  not  had  any  seques- 
tered in  our  Towne  but  a  Barber,  and  little  could  be  had 
from  him  ;  and  two  little  prebends,  yielding  £13  6s.  Od."  * 
By  far  the  most  resolute  and  conspicuous  Royalist  in  Bed- 
fordshire was  Sir  Lewis  Dyve  of  Bromham.  Whatever 
organization  there    may  have  been,  centred  in  him  ;    but  in 

*  The  authorities  for  the  details  here  given  are  (1)  The  Boyalist  Composition 
Papers — Bedfordshire,  in  the  Record  Office,  and  (2)  The  Original  Accounts  of 
Estates  of  LeUnquents  seized  by  Parliament,  in  the  British  Museum  —  Addl. 
MSS.,  5494,  Beds.,  Nos.  1 — 27.  It  may  be  well  to  say  that  the  Royalist 
Composition  Papers  are  in  two  series.  The  First  Series  consists  of  7,300  sets  of 
papers  hound  in  113  vols,  folio,  arranged  in  counties  and  comprising  the  corre- 
spondence and  orders  of  the  commissioners  for  sequestration  and  sale.  The 
Second  Series  contains  3,034  sets  of  papers,  and  is  hound  in  54  vols,  folio.  This 
series  not  being  arranged  in  counties  is  more  difficult  to  search,  but  for  purposes 
of  local  history  is  especially  valuable  as  containing  original  particulars  given  in 
on  oath  of  the  estates  and  personal  property  of  those  Royalists  who  were  per- 
mitted to  compound  on  payment  of  fine,  with  the  amount  of  fine.  Cf.  Selby's 
Lancashire  and  Cheshire  Records,  Record  Society,  1882. 


1645.]  777"^  CIVIL   WARS.  45 

July,  1642,  he  had  to  flee  for  his  life,  narrowly  escaping  arrest 
by  swimming  the  Ouse  where  it  flows  past  Broraham  Hall. 
The  following  year  he  was  defeated  at  Newport  Pagnel,  after 
which  he  appears  to  have  abandoned  all  farther  hope  of  success 
in  Bedfordshire,  and  proceeded  to  active  service  with  the  main 
body  of  the  Royal  forces  in  the  west. 

The  great  military  leader  in  the  county  on  the  other  side, 
against  Sir  Lewis  Dyve,  was  Sir  Samuel  Luke  of  Cople  Wood 
End,  who  was  a  tower  of  strength  for  what  he  called  "  the  good 
old  cause."  He  was  one  of  the  Members  for  Bedford  in  the 
Long  Parliament,  scout-master  to  the  Army,  and  governor  of  the 
garrison  of  Xewport  Pagnel.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  original 
of  Butler's  "Hudibras"  and  the  special  object  of  his  satira 
If  this  be  so,  the  picture  there  given  of  Sir  Samuel  will  scarcely 
be  accepted  as  a  picture  from  the  life  by  those  who  have 
gathered  their  impressions  of  this  knight  of  Cople  from  his 
own  Letter  Book  during  the  three  years  he  was  governor 
of  Newport.  This  consists  of  four  MS.  volumes*  and  con- 
tains letters  to  him  from  Cromwell,  Fairfax,  and  other  great 
leaders  and  officials  of  the  Government,  and  from  him  to  them 
and  also  to  his  father.  Sir  Oliver  Luke,  to  his  son  and  his 
son's  tutor,  to  his  neighbours  in  the  county,  to  his  brother 
oliicers  and  others.  In  all  these  he  leaves  the  impression  upon 
U8  of  a  man  of  shrewd  observation,  of  unquestionable  valour,  of 
godly  life,  and,  what  we  should  not  have  gathered  from  Butler's 
caricature,  of  considerable  breadth  of  humour  and  human- 
ness.  He  is  certainly  far  from  conforming  to  the  conventional 
idea  of  a  narrow  and  ascetic  Puritan.  We  find  him  writing  to 
his  son  at  Geneva,  where  he  is  travelling  with  his  tutor,  and 
while  urging  him  to  keep  the  fear  of  God  before  his  eyes,  he 
wishes  him  to  "  strive  to  perfect  his  Italian  hand,  to  follow  his 
mathematics,  ffencing,  vaulting  and  exercise  both  of  Picke  and 
musket."  AVriting  to  Pelham  Moore,  one  of  the  Secretaries 
of  State,  he  is  not  too  much  concerned  about  war  supplies  to 
forget  to  ask,  "If  there  bee  any  new  wynes  come  over  y*  are 
excellent  good  pray  send  nice  down  a  Teirce  or  two  half  hogs- 
heads upon  y*  lees  ol"  best  Claritt."  The  wine  was  sent,  but  not 
the  war  supplies,  and  Sir  Samuel  rallies  "  fforgetl'ul  Mr.  ^loore" 

•  Egerton  MSS.,lV,'i,''tm,lV>l.     Aihbuniham  MSH.     Stowu  C'oll.ctioii,  229. 


46  JOITN  BUNYAN,  [chap.  iii. 

upon  tte  long-  time  he  is  in  sending  him  the  needful  "  shovells, 
spades,  mattockes,  Iron  Crowes,  Drums,  CuUors  and  Halberds," 
and  thinks  he  must  be  "  a  kiun  or  some  greate  acquaintance  of 
that  Sir  Thomas  Bayers  who  wore  his  Cloaths  five  yeare  in  his 
head  before  hee  putt  them  to  the  making."  He  adds  :  "  Your 
Claritt  wine  is  starke  naught  both  in  the  eye  and  mouth." 
Therefore  Mr.  Moore,  who  has  just  come  away  from  the  pre- 
sence of  Cromwell,  whom  he  has  left  "  well  and  merry,"  tells 
his  friend  :  "  Coming  thence  by  Boate  I  saw  a  Salmon  taken 
in  the  Tames  which  I  present  to  y^  Honour  hoping  the  tast 
thereof  will  meliorate  my  wine."  That  Sir  Samuel  could  appre- 
ciate the  good  things  of  life  as  well  as  the  best  cavalier  is  seen 
in  the  message  he  sent  to  his  father,  Sir  Oliver,  who  is  in  Par- 
liament, where  "  wee  satt  in  the  House  till  six  at  night  and 
fought  the  Babbell  stoutly."  Sir  Samuel,  to  fortify  his  stout- 
hearted father  for  battle  with  the  Parliamentary  obstructives 
of  his  day  sends  him  a  "  Ped  Deer  Pie,  with  which  you  shall 
receive  three  brace  of  Phesants,  two  Couple  of  Tayle,  six 
Cockes,  two  brace  of  Partridges  and  two  dozen  of  Snipes." 
That  he  had  some  regard  also  to  the  pomps  and  vanities  is 
seen  from  the  order  he  gives  to  his  father's  confidential  ser- 
vant, Edward  Bynion,  who,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  was 
John  Bunyan's  uncle — his  father's  brother  Edward,  who  also 
married  his  mother's  sister  Rose.  Bynion  has  found,  "  in 
Mr.  Cubberd's  shop  French  Scarlett "  for  Sir  Samuel's  cloake 
at  two  guineas  a  yard,  as  good  as  any  in  London.  "  To  tryme 
the  Cloake  will  require  eight  and  a  half  dozens  of  Buttons 
and  Loopes  which,  if  they  be  rich  will  cost  forty  shillings  a 
dozen,"  so  that  "  cloake  and  tryming  will  come  to  £30." 
Remembering  how  much  this  sum  meant  in  those  days,  it 
would  not  seem  that  the  Presbyterian  soldier  whom  Butler 
styles  Sir  Hudibras,  erred  on  the  side  of  parsimony  or  Puritan 
sadness. 

As  this  is  probably  the  man  under  whom  John  Bunyan  served 
his  brief  soldier  life,  we  are  interested  in  catching  these  few 
glimpses  of  him.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  keen  in- 
sight and  strong  common  sense ;  his  personal  valour  was  as 
unquestioned  as  his  military  skill,  and  it  was  probably  easier 
for  Butler,  after  living  under  his  roof,  to  lampoon  him  at  a  safe 


1645.]  TEE  CIVIL   WARS.  47 

distance  in  his  "ITudibras"  than  it  was  for  the  enemy  to  meet 
him  in  the  fair  encounter  of  an  open  field.  Royalist  ridicule  of 
men  who  had  grave  and  anxious  duties  to  discharge  in  defending 
the  ancient  constitutional  liberties  of  England  may  be  very 
amusing  to  read,  but  it  is  not  history,  and  must  not  be  mistaken 
for  it.* 

Bedfordshire,  through  its  representatives  in  Parliament  as 
well  as  by  its  military  action,  pronounced  strongly  against  the 
unconstitutional   policy   of   Charles.     There  were   only    three 
counties   in  England   all  of  whose   members  for  county  and 
borough  alike  were  on  the  side  of  Hampden  and  Pym,  and 
Bedfordshire  was  one  of  the  three.     In  the  Upper   House  the 
Earl  of  Bedford  was,  at  the  beginning  of  the  struggle,  on  the 
same  side,  as  was  the  Earl  of  Bolingbroke  and  also  Lord  St.  John 
of  Bletsoe,  who  lost  his  life  at  the  battle  of  Edgehill.     Ilenry, 
Earl  of  Kent,  who  succeeded  his  fiither  at  "Wrest  Park  in  1643, 
was  also  a  Parliamentarian,  as  was  the  Earl  of  Manchester,  whose 
seat  was  only  a  mile  or  two  over  the  county  border,  and  who,  as 
Lord  Kimbolton,  had  resisted  the  King  in  Parliament,  as  he  did 
afterwards  in  the  field.      In  addition  to  the  leaders  there  were 
resolute  men  in  all  parts  of  the  county,  and  in  all  ranks  of  life, 
whose  sympathies  were  actively  on  the  same  side. 

The  stream  being  thus  mainly  one  way,  Bedfordshire  did 
not  suflfer  within  its  own  borders  from  the  consequences 
of  civil  war,  to  the  same  extent  as  some  other  counties. 
There  were  hardships  endured  from  the  free  quartering  of 
the  soldiery,  and  there  were  occasional  raids  and  skirmishes, 
of  course.  In  the  autumn  of  1G43  Sir  Lewis  Dyve  rode 
into  Ampthill  with  a  party  of  horse,  and  carried  ofi"  as 
prisoners  to  Oxford  "divers  of  the  well-afFected  gentry  and 
freeholders,  who  were  met  as  a  committee  appointed  by 
Parliament."  t  In  the  following  June  the  King,  passing 
through  liocklifi'e,  on  a  Sunday,  towards  Bedford,  plundered 


•  It  would  8ccm  that  Oliver  CromwoH'B  cldost  and  most  promising  son  ecrvod 
under  8ir  Samuel  Luke,  and  died  in  Nf.-winjrt  j,'arriB()n,  while  ho  wiw  Bovunior. 
In  the"  Purliamt-nt  Scout"  for  Miirch  15th— 2'Jnd,  1643-4,  thf-ro  Ih  thn  following 
entry:  "Cromwell  liath  lost  hJH  clJeHt  Hon,  who  in  dead  of  th(»  Hmall  pox  in 
Newport  [raffn<d],  a  civil  young  gentleman  and  the  joy  of  hifl  father." 

t  Wollington'H  if Miwica/ iVo<i«»,  II.,  73. 


48  JOHN  BTINYAN.  [chap.  m. 

Leigh  ton  by  the  way,  and  also  sent  another  party  to  Dunstable, 
who,  finding  the  people  at  church,  began  to  cut  and  wound 
right  and  left,  "  and  shot  a  case  of  pistols  at  the  minister,  but 
missed  him,  yet  afterwards  abused  him  almost  as  bad  as  death."  * 
Rush  worth  also  tells  us  that  in  October,  1643,  Colonel  Urrey 
and  Sir  Lewis  Dyve,  with  a  great  party  of  horse,  entered  Bed- 
ford, took  Sir  John  Norris  and  others  prisoners  there,  and 
routed  three  hundred  of  their  horse,  and  sufiiciently  plundered 
the  town  and  other  parts  of  that  country."  f  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Royalists  also  used  to  tell  how  they  had  suffered  from 
the  quartering  of  soldiers  upon  them,  and  from  the  loss  of  cattle 
and  sheep  for  the  army  ;  how  that  Mrs.  Orlebar's  coachman  at 
Harrold  lost  his  life  from  refusing  to  deliver  up  his  horses  to 
Cromwell's  party  without  the  leave  of  his  mistress ;  and  how, 
while  Mr.  Gery  was  away  with  the  King  at  Oxford,  the  Parlia- 
mentary forces  fired  into  the  windows  at  Bushmead  Priory,  his 
wife  fleeing  from  room  to  room  with  her  children  til]  she  was 
able  to  take  refuge  with  a  tenant,  as  the  soldiers  plundered  the 
house.  There  is,  too,  a  touch  of  human  pathos,  and  a  vivid 
glimpse  into  the  sorrows  of  those  days,  in  a  petition  found 
among  the  Royalist  Composition  Papers,  from  a  youth  of 
seventeen,  the  son  of  Sir  Henry  Cayson  of  Dungey  Wood.  The 
lad  asks  that  his  father's  estate  may  not  be  altogether  taken  away 
for  his  delinquency,  for  that  while  Sir  Henry  and  his  lady  had 
left  "  his  own  house  in  the  Parliamentary  quarters,  and  gone 
to  visit  his  wife's  friends  in  Bristol,  while  it  was  the  King's 
garrison,  they  both  dyed  there,  one  shortly  after  the  other, 
leaving  nine  children,  all  infants  of  tender  yeares,  fatherlesse 
and  motherlesse."  We  can  easily  conceive  also  that  Bedford 
town  was  all  astir  as  one  Sunday  evening  in  August  Lord  St. 
John's  troopers  rode  up  to  St.  Cuthbert's  Church  and  arrested 
the  rector,  Giles  Thome,  at  the  close  of  the  service,  because  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  praying  publicly  for  the  King,  and  defying 
from  his  pulpit  the  authority  of  Parliament.!  Naturally  enough, 
incidents  like  these  occurred  here  and  there,  but  they  were  few 
and  inconsiderable  when  contrasted  with  the  sufferings  which 
were  endured  nearer  to  the  scenes  of  conflict.     They  were  only 

*  Perfect  Diurnall,  No.  48.         t  Historical  Collectioxs,  VI.,  01. 
X  Mercurius  Rusticus,  Ed.  1685,  p.  45. 


1645.]  THE  CIVIL  irARS.  4a 

incidental  consequences  of  a  war  which,  as  civil  wars  always  do, 
roused  the  bitterest  passions  of  the  human  breast. 

Ilavinij  regard,  then,  to  all  the  local  circumstances  of  the 
case,  to  the  fact  that  there  was  a  strong  set  of  the  stream  in 
the  Parliamcutarv  direction  ;  that  Bunyan  was  a  mere  lad  of 
sixteen;  that  he  listened  at  Elstow  church  to  the  preaching 
of  Christopher  Hull,  a  vicar  who  so  far  went  with  the  prevail- 
ing current  as  to  preach  against  Sunday  sports,  and  to  christen 
his  son  with  Cromwell's  name  of  Oliver  ;  it  seems  scarcely 
likely  that  he  would  think  his  way  to  independent  conclusions 
80  wide  apart  from  those  of  his  neighbours,  break  through  all 
the  carefully  kept  lines  of  the  Parliamentary  forces  west  of  the 
county,  and  join  the  Eoyalist  army  Mith  the  King.  It  is  much 
more  probable  that  as  soon  as  he  liad  reached  the  regulation 
age  of  sixteen  he  was  included  in  one  of  the  levies  made  by 
Parliament  upon  the  villages  of  Bedfordshire,  and  without  any 
choice  of  his  own  in  the  matter,,  was  sent  with  others  of  his 
neighbours  to  the  important  garrison  of  Newport,  "  geome- 
trically situate,"  as  a  Parliamentary  ordinance  describes  it, 
between  the  associated  counties  on  the  east  and  the  lloyalist 
district  to  the  west. 

The  same  ordinance  of  Parliament,  which  constituted  New- 
port garrison,  provided  also  "that  the  county  of  Bedford, 
within  fourteen  days,  shall  send  into  it  225  able  and  armed 
men  for  souldiers."  And  if  we  come  to  the  few  months  during 
which  alone  Bunyan  could  have  served,  wo  tind,  from  entries 
in  the  governor's  letter-book,  that  these  and  subsequent  orders 
were  complied  with.  Bunyan  was  sixteen,  and  therefore  old 
enough  to  serve  in  the  early  part  of  November,  IG 14.  On  thu 
28th  of  that  month  the  governor  writes  :  "Wee have  now  about 
800  in  the  Towne,  and  noo  pay  ....  liedfordshire  men  make 
a  fayrc  show,  and  tell  them  strange  things."  Again,  on  tho 
17th  January,  there  is  tho  following  letter  to  tho  committee  at 
Bedford  from  lUchard  Cockayne  :  "  Since  ray  last  unto  you 
yesterday  I  have  received  order  from  Sir  S.  Luke  concerning 
the  sending  out  of  the  .'JOO  men,  which  ho  desires  may  be  done 
with  all  exjx'dition  that  may  be."  Once  more,  under  date 
April  1-ith,  the  governor,  writing  to  the  Karl  of  Northumber- 
luud,  says,  "  Bedfordshire  has  sent  in  soine  prest  men  ;  "  and 

K 


50  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  iii. 

we  liappen  to  know,  from  other  letters,  that  two  of  these  "  prest 
men  "  came,  the  one  from  Wootton  and  the  other  from  Gotten 
End,  villages  close  to  Elstow.  It  is  not  unlikely,  therefore, 
tmder  these  circumstances,  that  Bunyan  also  was  one  of  the  men 
drafted  to  Newport  for  service. 

He  says,  "  When  I  was  a  soldier  I  with  others  were 
drawn  out  to  go  to  such  a  place  to  besiege  it."  This  would 
very  well  accord  with  the  experience  of  the  men  under  Sir 
Samuel  Luke,  who  were  often  called  out  for  service  elsewhere. 
The  day  before  the  Christmas  of  1643,  for  example,  a  large 
siege  party  left  the  garrison,  and  stormed  and  took  Grafton 
House,  in  Northamptonshire.  The  following  month  Captain 
Abercrombie  set  out  from  Newport  with  a  hundred  men  of  the 
new  levies  and  took  Hillesdon  House ;  later  in  the  same  year 
Captain  Ennis,  sent  out  by  Sir  S.  Luke,  surprised  and  captured 
a  party  of  Royalists  near  Bicester.  In  1645  also,  at  the  time 
Bunyan  was  in  the  army,  Captain  Bladwell  received  orders  to 
march,  with  three  hundred  men  of  the  Newport  garrison,  to 
Aylesbury,  and  thence  to  Farnham,  there  to  await  farther 
instructions.  Probably  as  one  of  some  such  party  Bunyan  had 
been  sent  on  some  military  operation  on  the  occasion  when,  as 
he  tells  us,  "  once  I  fell  into  a  creek  of  the  sea,  and  hardlv 
escaped  drowning."  The  nearest  creek  of  the  sea  to  a  midland 
county  like  Bedfordshire  was  a  long  way  off,  and  it  is  probable 
that  this  deliverance  from  the  sea,  like  that  from  the  musket- 
ball,  was  one  of  the  experiences  of  his  soldier  life. 

It  has  been  frequently  stated,  though  Bunyan  himself  does 
not  mention  the  fact,  that  he  was  at  the  siege  of  Leicester  in 
the  summer  of  1645.  The  statement  rests  upon  the  authority 
of  two  writers,  each  of  whom  published  a  short  sketch  of  Bun- 
yan's  life  after  his  death.  The  first  of  these  is  simply  worth- 
less. It  is  entitled  "  An  Account  of  the  Life  and  Actions  of 
Mr.  John  Bunyan,  from  his  Cradle  to  his  Grave."  It  was  first 
printed  at  the  end  of  the  spurious  third  part  of  the  Pilgrim's 
Progress,  and  is  evidently  a  mere  piece  of  literary  hack-work, 
made  up  from  the  Grace  Abounding.  Where  the  writer 
is  original  he  is  manifestly  wrong.  He  tells  us,  for  example, 
that  at  the  siege  of  Leicester  the  town  was  "  vigorously  de- 
fended by  the  King's  forces  against  the  Parliamentarians,"  the 


1645.]  TUE  CIVIL  WARS.  61 

• 

case,  o£  course,  being  precisely  the  reverse.     Then,  by  way  of 
exphiining;  how  Bunyan  came  to  be  in   the  army,   lie   says, 
"  AVhen   the   unnatural   civil  war  came   on,  finding   little  or 
nothing  to  do  to  support  himself  and  >^maU  famibj,  he,  as  many 
thousands  did,  betook  himself  to  arms."     As  at  the  time  of  the 
siege  of  Leicester  Bunyan  was  sixteen  years  and  seven  months 
old,  it  is  clear  the  writer  knew  very  little  either  of  Bunyan's 
"  small  family  "  or  of  Bunyan  himself.     Eventually  this  sketch 
was,  for  some  reason,  withdrawn,  and  another  account  of  Bun- 
yan's  life,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  took  its  place  in 
1700.      It  professes  to  be  written  by  a  personal  friend.      The 
writer  says  that  Bunyan,  **  being  a  soldier  in  the  Parliament's 
army  at  the  siege  of  Leicester  in  1G45,  he  was  drawn  out  to 
stand  centinel,  but  another  soldier  voluntarily  desiring  to  go 
in  his  room,"  was  shot  dead.     He  has  evidently  confused  two 
separate  stories,  as  he  might  easily  do,  writing  some  fifty  years 
after  the  event.     Bunyan  himself  says,  "  When  I  was  a  soldier 
1  with  others  were  drawn  out  to  go  to  such  a  place  to  besiege 
it ;  but  when    I  was  just  ready  to  go  one  of  the  company 
desired  to  go  in  my  room,  to  which,  when  I  had  consented,  he 
took  my  place  ;  and  coming  to  the  siege,  as  he  stood  sentinel 
he  was  shot  into  the  head  with   a  musket-bullet,  and  died." 
Either,  therefore,  this  account  does  not  refer  to  the  siege  of 
Leicester,  or  Bunyan  was  not  at  that   siege,  for,  wherever  it 
was,  he  distinctly  says  that,  though  he  was  drawn  to  go,  he  did 
not  actually  go,  because  another  man  went  in  his  place.      Yet, 
though  this  personal  friend  of  Bunyan's  has  thus  confused  two 
separate  things,   he  was  evidently  quite  sure  in  his  own  mind 
that  Bunyan  was  at  the  siege  of  Leicester,  and  probably  liad  it 
from  his  own  lips.     It  is  certain  that  there  were  soldiers  fronx 
Newport  garrison  present  at  that  siege,  defending  the  town 
against  the  assault  of  the  Koyal  forces.      Wo  know  that  these 
men  from  Newport,  under  Major  Knnis,  were  placed  in  cliargo 
of  that   portion   of  the  fortifications  of  Leicester  calhd   "  the 
Newarke"  ux  "  new  worke,"  on  the  soutli  side  of  the  town,  near 
an  old  stone  wall,  against  which  Prince  Pupcrt  had  directed  tlie 
King's  artillery  to  be  planted.     In  this  wall  a  largo  breaeli  had 
been  made,  but  was  repain-d  and  defended  by  lOnnis,  who  twice 
drove  back  the  enemy  with  great  loss.      For  three  hours  after 

£2 


62  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  iii. 

the  rest  of  the  town  was  taken  Major  Ennis  and  his  Newport 
men  maintained  their  position,  and  obtained  good  terms  of 
capitulation,  when  they  were  surrounded,  and  had  at  last  to 
surrender. 

The  stirring  scenes  and  incidents  of  these  soldier  days,  the 
many-phased  aspects  of  life  and  contrasts  of  character  presented 
on  every  side,  would,  of  course,  do  much  to  widen  the  mind  of  the 
impressible  lad  from  Elstow.  It  must  have  been  a  curious  school 
of  experience  to  be  among  these  fighting,  preaching,  praying 
majors  and  captains,  who  could  one  day  storm  and  take  Grafton 
or  Hillesdon  House,  and  the  next  preach  to  edification  in  New- 
port church.  Eagerly  taking  in  this  new  world,  all  so  vivid 
to  him,  he  marches,  it  may  be,  with  Captain  Bladwell  to  Ayles- 
bury and  the  Surrey  Downs,  or  stands  with  the  men  in  Lath- 
bury  Field  to  hear  Captain  Hobson  preach,  or  gives  military 
salute  in  Newport  garrison  to  Sir  Samuel  Luke,  or  along  with 
Major  Ennis  fights  amidst  the  rain  of  death  on  Leicester  walls. 
The  memories  of  these  days  came  back  in  after  years,  making 
more  intensely  real  to  him  the  fight  with  Apollyon,  the  expe- 
dition of  Greatheart,  or  the  winning  back  of  Mansoul  for 
Emmanuel. 


t^^WW^-'^ 


Bunyan's  Cottaok  at  Elstow. 
{IIi$ place  of  abocU  after  his  Marriage,  1649 — 1655.) 

IV. 
SPIRITUAL  CONFLICT. 


On  the  disbanding  of  the  army  in  1G4G,  Bunyan  returned  to 
his  tinkerinf^  life  ut  Klstow,  and  two  or  three  years  hiter  took 
to  himself  a  wife.  AVho  she  was  and  where  ho  found  her  we 
have  now  no  means  of  knowin*^.  There  is  no  entry  of  the 
marriage  in  the  rej^istcr  at  I'dstow,  whicli  may  arise  from  the 
fact  that  he  found  her  at  a  distance,  or  that  they  were,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  Commonwealth,  married  before  some 
justice  of  the  peace  whose  registers  are  lost.  Ajjpiirently  she 
was  an  orphan  and  a  native  of  some  other  place  tli;iii  Mlstow, 
for  she  used  to  talk  to  IJunyan  about  her  father  as  thougli  they 
were  unknown   («j  each  other,  telling  him  "  what  a  godly  man 


54  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  iv. 

lie  was  and  how  lie  would  reprove  and  correct  vice  both  in  his 
House  and  amongst  his  neighbours  ;  what  a  strict  and  holy  life 
he  lived  in  his  Days  both  in  Word  and  Deed."  We  know  not 
who  she  was,  we  do  not  even  know  her  Christian  name,  but  we 
do  know  that  her  advent  brought  to  Bunyan  what  he  had  not 
had  since  his  mother's  death,  a  real  home  brightened  by  the 
presence  of  love.  It  was  not  brightened  by  much  else.  "  This 
woman  and  I,"  says  he,  "  came  together  as  poor  as  poor  might 
be,  not  having  so  much  household  stuff  as  a  dish  or  spoon 
betwixt  us  both."  It  was  an  unpromising  beginning,  but 
many  that  are  more  promising  turn  out  worse.  It  may  be 
that  where  there  are  health  and  hope  and  honest  industry, 
mutual  love  and  trust  can  better  supply  the  lack  of  dish  and 
spoon  than  an  abundance  of  dishes  and  spoons  can  supply  the 
lack  of  love. 

Though  the  young  wife  brought  no  dower  of  wealth  to  her 
husband,  she  brought  to  him  that  which  wealth  cannot  buy — 
saintly  memories  of  a  godly  home  and  trained  instincts  for 
good ;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  she  would  beguile  their  summer 
evening  walks  and  their  fireside  winter  talks  by  memories  of 
the  good  man,  her  father,  who  had  gone  to  heaven.  She 
brought  with  her  also  two  books  which  had  been  his,  the  one, 
"  The  Plain  Man's  Pathway  to  Heaven,"  by  Arthur  Dent,  the 
parish  minister  of  Shoebury  in  Essex,  and  the  other,  "  The 
Practice  of  Piety,"  by  Lewis  Bayly,  a  bishop  of  Bangor,  in 
King  James'  time.  "In  these,"  says  Bunyan,  "I  should 
sometimes  read  with  her,  wherein  I  also  found  some  things 
that  were  somewhat  pleasing  to  me." 

These  two  books  which  he  thus  thought  worthy  of  special 
mention  had,  both  of  them,  an  unusual  run  of  popularity. 
"The  Plain  Man's  Pathway  to  Heaven"  *  was  a  little  square, 
vellum-bound,  black-letter  book  of  about  four  hundred 
pages,  which  was  first  published  in  1601,  and  in  1637  had 
reached  the  twenty-fourth   edition.      It  is  in  the  form   of  a 

*  The  Plaine  Man's  Path-way  to  Heaucn  :  Wherin  euery  man  may  cleerly  see 
whether  he  shall  be  saued  or  damned.  Set  foorth  Dialogue- wise,  for  the  better 
understanding  of  the  simple.  By  Arthur  Dent,  Preacher  of  the  word  of  God 
at  South  Shoobury  in  Essex.  The  11th  impression.  London:  Printed  by  ./l/e^- 
chisedeck  Bradwood  for  Edw.  Bishop,  and  are  to  bee  solde  in  Paul's  Churchyard, 
at  the  syne  of  the  Brasen  Serpent.     1G09. 


16o0.]  SPIRITUAL  CONFLICT.  55 

dialogue  between  four  persons,  who  appear  as  a  divine,  a  plain 
honest  man,  an  ignorant  man,  and  a  caviller,  and  who  having 
a  long  May  day  on  their  hands,  repair  by  common  consent  "  to 
yonder  oke-tree,  where  there  is  a  goodly  arbour  and  handsome 
seats,  and  where  they  may  all  sit  in  the  shadow  and  conferrc  of 
heavenly  matters."  The  book  seems  to  have  filtered  into 
Bunyan's  mind  and  to  have  remained  with  him.  In  the  "  Life 
and  Death  of  Mr.  Badman,"  which  ho  published  more  than 
thirty  years  later,  we  shall  see  hereafter  the  traces  of  its  influ- 
ence. Dent's  book  is  long,  and  for  the  most  part  wearisomely 
heavy  and  theologically  narrow,  but  there  are  in  it  racy  say- 
ings and  intensely  English  forms  of  expression,  some  of  which 
remind  us  even  of  Bunyan  himself.  We  come,  for  instance, 
upon  such  proverbial  sayings  as,  **  Who  is  so  bold  as  blindc 
Baynard?"  "  lie  that  never  doubted  never  believed;"  "Soft 
fire  maketh  sweet  mault ;  "  "A  fool's  bolt  is  soon  shot ;  "  and 
"Sweet  meat  will  hav^e  sour  sauce."  Speaking  of  pride,  the 
writer  is  satirical  upon  those  who  spend  "  a  good  part  of  the 
day  in  tricking  and  trimming,  pricking  and  pinning,  pranking 
and  pouncing,  girding  and  lacing  and  braving  up  themselves  in 
most  exquisite  manner  ;  "  he  likes  not  "  these  doubled  and 
redoubled  ruffes,  these  strouting  fardingales,  long  locks,  and 
foretufts  ;  "  and  he  thinks  "  it  was  never  a  good  world  since 
starching  and  steeling,  buskes  and  whalebones,  supporters  and 
rebatoes,  full  moones  and  hobby  horses  came  into  use."  "  Even 
plain  country  folk,"  he  says,  "  will  flaunt  it  like  courtiers,  and 
the  old  proverb  is  verified,  '  Everie  Jacko  will  bo  a  gentleman, 
and  Joane  is  as  good  as  my  lady.'  "  Tlie  divine  of  the  dialogue, 
speaking  of  oaths,  objects  even  to  men  swearing  by  Cocke  or 
Pie,  or  Mousefoot;  where\ipon  the  caviller  says,  "Itseemcth  you 
are  an  Anabaj)(ist,  you  condemn  all  swearing;"  from  wliidi  wi* 
may  infer  that  the  Baptists  of  J^ngland  were  specially  conspic- 
uous for  their  simple  yea,  yea,  and  nay,  nay,  oven  before  Georgo 
Fox  and  the  Quakers  were  born.  It  is  further  said  that 
drunkenness  is  the  "  metropolitane  Citio  of  all  the  Province  of 
viccrt,"  and  that  the  many  "  lazy  lozels  and  luskish  youths 
which  doc  nothing  all  the  day  long,"  forget  tliat  we  must  ono 
day  "  give  an  account  of  our  Baily-wicko."  At  the  close  of  tlio 
dialogue  the  ignorant  man  of  tlie  party  comes  under  deep  con- 


56  JOHN  B  UNYAN.  [chap.  iv. 

cern  about  his  moral  state;  wliereupon  the  caviller  asks  him  to 
go  home  with  him  and  he  can  give  him  "  a  speedie  remedie, 
for  he  has  many  pleasant  and  merry  bookes,  '  Bevis  of  South- 
ampton,' '  Ellen  of  E.ummin ; '  '  The  Merrie  Jest  of  the 
Frier  and  the  Boy ;  '  '  The  Pleasant  Story  of  Clem  of 
the  Clough,'  '  Adam  Bell  and  William  of  Cloudesley ; ' 
*  The  odde  tale  of  William,  Richard,  and  Humfrey  ; '  '  The 
Pretie  Conceit  of  John  Splinter's  last  Will  and  Testament : ' 
which  all  are  excellent  and  singular  bookes  against  heart 
qualmes." 

The  other  book  in  which  Bunyan  read  with  his  wife,  was  "The 
Practice  of  Piety,"  It  was  first  published  in  1612  by  Lewis 
Bayly  of  Evesham,  afterwards  bishop  of  Bangor,  and  by  1673 
had  been  printed  above  fift}'  times  in  English,  besides  many 
times  in  Welsh,  French,  Hungarian,  Polish,  and  other  Conti- 
nental languages.  Notwithstanding  its  distinctly  ecclesiastical 
tone,  the  book  was  a  great  favourite  with  the  Puritans.  The 
m.other  of  Symon  Patrick  was  brought  up  by  its  rules,  Joseph 
AUeine  received  from  it  consolation  on  his  deathbed,  and  James 
Frazer,  of  Brea,  the  minister  of  Culross,  one  of  the  Scottish 
confessors,  tells  us  that  he  came  to  a  Christian  life  after  read- 
ing it  one  Sunday  afternoon.  So  wide  was  its  renown  that  it 
became  the  subject  of  satire  on  the  part  of  men  not  much  given 
to  reading  it.  It  was  to  be  found  on  the  desk  of  the  Justice  of 
the  Peace  along  with  his  Dalton's  "  Duties  of  a  Magistrate." 
Peter  Hansted,  in  1644,  satirizes  a — 

"  Justice  Parler  on  whose  cushion  ly 
A  Dal  ton  and  '  Practice  of  Piety.'  " 

The  book  was  introduced  into  Congreve's  "  Old  Bachelor,"  and 
in  1788,  Peter  Pindar  makes  George  III.  say  to  Mr.  Whitbread, 
who  was  the  member  for  Bedford  at  that  time — 

"I'm  told  that  you  send  Bibles  to  your  votes, 
Pray'r  books  instead  of  cash  to  buy  them  coats — 
Bunyans  and  '  Practices  of  Piety.'  " 

Reading  the  book  now,  it  is  difficult  to  account  for  its  wide- 
spread popularity.  Men  used  to  read  it,  however,  because  in  the 
language  of  the  times  it  struck  home  at  the  central  verities  of  the 
religious  life  on  which  all  Christians  are  agreed  ;  it  was,  as  the 


IGdO.]  SPIRITUAL   COXFLICT.  bl 

writer  said,  "an  endeavour  to  extract  out  of  the  chaos  of  end- 
less controversies  the  old  practice  of  true  piety  which  flourished 
before  these  controversies  were  hatched."  It  was  a  book  lo  be 
read  when  men  read  books,  not  many  but  much.* 

The  effect  of  these  books  upon  Bunyan's  mind  and  heart  was 
pknising — pleasinf^  only  as  yet — not  convincing,  not  striking 
right  home  and  giving  him  that  despairing  sense  of  sin  through 
which  he  more  than  most  men  had  to  make  his  way  to  the 
better  life.     There  was  no  cry  from  the  depths  as  yet,  but 
there  were  good  desires  coming  up,  and  under  their  influence 
he  went  "  to  church  twice  a  day,  and  that  with  the  foremost." 
When  there  the  natural  reverence  of  his  soul  took  forms  not 
always  elevating.      The  vine  without   trellis  work  to  lift  it  up 
trails  on  the  ground,  and  Bunj-an's  deeply  religious  nature  not 
yet  having  found  its  healthful  nutriment  in  eternal  verities, 
expended  itself  in  superstitious  awe  over   sacred  places  and 
ecclesiastical  persons.   The  high  place  in  KIstow  Church  seemed 
to  his  vivid  imagination  like  a  piece  of  heaven  brought  down  to 
earth,  and  the  vicar,  as  he  stood  in  the  rude  pulpit  of  former 
days,  like  a  being  of  some  supernal  sphere  ;  even  that  not  very 
sublime  personage  the  parish  clerk,  came  in  for  a  share  of  ador- 
ation.    "  So  overcome  was  I  with  the  spirit  of  superstition  that 
I  adored,  and  that  with  great  devotion,  even  all  things  (both  the 
high    place,    priest,    clerk,   vestment-service,    and    what   else) 
belonging  to  the  church."     It  has  been  assumed  that  the  form 
of  service  at  Elstow  Church   during  the  Commonwealth  was 
Presbyterian,  but  this  description  of  the  worship  that  Bunyan 
attended  there  between  1049  and  1();j2,  does  not  seem  nmch 
like  it.    A  Bresbyterianism  tliat  had  "  liigh  place,  priest,  clerk, 
vestment-service,    and    what    else,"    must    have   had    services 
strangely  like    those  of  Episcopacy.      ^Moreover,   Christopher 
Hall,  the  vicar,  was  certainly  an  Episcopalian,  for  he  entered 
upon  the  living  in  MV-V,),  when  Archbisjiop  Laud  was  supreme; 
he  remained  there  all  through  the  Comnumwealth  period,  aiul 
he  certainly  continued  \icar  of  Elstow  for  four  years  after  the 
KoHtoration,  and  therefore  two  years  after  the  Act  of  Uuifor- 

•  I'laclue  of  J'liti/,  with  l)iof,T-ai))iirttl  itrofaco  \>y  (n.uc  Wi  l).stpr,  London, 
1842.  Jimfiop  I.rwit  liaylij  and  lim  I'nu'.ire  uf  J'ulij,  by  J.  E.  liiiiky,  F.S.A., 
•'  3Ian(htnt<.r  Quarterly  Ucviow,"  July,  1883. 


58  JORR  BUNYAN.  [chap.  iv. 

mity,  signing  the  returns  from  the  register  in  1664.  Either, 
therefore,  Buhyan's  spiritual  guide  in  his  Elstow  days  was  a 
wonderfully  pliant  man,  a  veritable  "  vicar  of  Bray,"  or,  there 
was  considerably  more  tolerance  for  Nonconforming  Episco- 
palians under  Cromwell  than  there  was  for  Nonconforming 
Quakers  and  Presbyterians  under  Charles.  The  services  and 
officials  familiar  to  Bunyan  in  Elstow  Church,  and  his  Sunday 
tipcat  experiences  on  Elstow  Green  would  seem  to  suggest 
that  neither  the  law  of  1645  against  liturgical  forms,  nor  the 
law  of  1644  against  Sunday  sports  was  very  rigidly  enforced  in 
the  remoter  rural  parishes  of  the  land. 

The  four  years  of  Bunyan's  life  which  followed  his  marriage 
were  those  in  which  he  went  through  the  intense  spiritual 
experiences  he  has  described  for  us  as  with  pen  of  fire  in  the 
"  Grace  Abounding."  It  was  an  awful  time,  yet  it  had  its  com- 
pensations. It  gave  him  that  mighty  hold  of  men's  hearts 
which  more  than  most  writers  and  preachers  he  has  always 
had.  He  knew  it  himself.  "  For  this  reason  I  lay  so  long  at 
Sinai,  to  see  the  fire  and  the  cloud  and  the  darkness,  that  I 
might  fear  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my  life  upon  earth,  and 
tell  of  His  wondrous  works  to  ray  children."  As  he  entered 
into  the  struggle  of  those  fearful  years  he  was  overwhelmed 
with  a  sense  of  his  own  evil ;  he  paints  his  moral  condition  in 
the  darkest  colours.  Many  writers  think  the  colours  too  dark, 
the  shadows  more  sombre  than  the  truth  required.  Lord 
Macaulay,  for  example,  may  be  taken  as  the  type  of  a  class 
who  have  undertaken  to  vindicate  Bunyan's  character  against 
the  charges  of  Bunyan  himself.  We  must  not,  he  thinks,  lay 
too  much  stress  on  the  man's  description  of  himself.  He  merely 
caught  up  the  language  of  his  time,  and  the  worst  that  can  be 
laid  to  his  charge  is,  "  that  he  had  a  great  liking  for  some 
diversions  quite  harmless  in  themselves,  but  condemned  by  the 
rigid  precisians  among  whom  he  lived  and  for  whom  he  had  a 
great  respect."  Indeed,  some  men  Mould  not  have  hesitated  to 
commend  rather  than  condemn.  "A  rector  of  the  school  of 
Laud  would  have  held  such  a  young  man  up  to  the  whole 
parish  as  a  model."  *  "We  cannot  read  these  easy-going  utter- 
ances alongside  Bunyan's  burning  words  without  feeling  that 
*  Macaulay's  Biographies.     John  Bunyan,  p.  30. 


IGoO.]  SPiniTl'AL  COXFLICT.  59 

these  two  men  had  gone  through  incommensurable  experiences. 
Probably  Macaulay's  natural  temperament  and  his  career  of 
unrulHed  prosperity  led  him  to  take  a  somewhat  complacent 
view  both  of  this  world  and  the  next.  Bunyan,  on  the  con- 
trary, had  battled  with  the  storm.  lie  had  looked  down 
shuddcringly  into  yawning  depths  and  yearningly  up  to  lofty 
heights,  which  when  a  man  has  once  seen  he  can  be  complacent 
no  more. 

There  are  those  who  would  probably  consider  any  passionate 
agitation  concerning  the  spiritual  world  as  somewhat  unreal 
and  affected.  They  may  be  estimable  neighbours  and  useful 
citizens,  but,  as  Froude  says  of  them,  "  be  their  talents  what 
they  may,  they  could  not  write  a  '  Pilgrim's  Progress,'  or  ever 
reach  the  delectable  mountains,  or  even  be  conscious  that  such 
mountains  exist."  There  arc  two  ways  of  looking  at  sin  ;  an 
easy-going  way  and  a  way  that  is  more  earnest.  The  more 
earnest  way,  which  was  liunyan's,  is  that  which  looks  upon 
sin  in  the  light  of  the  supremo  anguish  endured  on  Calvary 
for  its  expiation,  and  which  sees  in  the  sinner  one  of  whom  it 
is  always  true  that  he  knows  not  what  he  does.  This  intenser 
way  may  seem  to  some  to  be  overstrained,  but  it  is  in  harmony 
with  the  whole  literature  of  penitence  from  the  iJook  of  Psalms 
down  to  the  latest  utterance  of  the  Christian  ages ;  it  is  the 
outcome  of  a  living  spirit  which  cannot  be  destroyed  without 
destroying  also  all  that  is  noblest  in  aspiration  and  most 
glorious  in  achievement  in  the  moral  history  of  the  race. 

In  estimating  the  sinfulness  of  Bunyan's  early  life  it  must  be 
remembered  that  sin  may  take  a  spiritual  as  well  as  a  sensual 
form.  Tlio  sins  for  which  he  reproached  himself  were  not 
specially  those  of  the  flesh.  lie  was  never  a  drunkard,  and 
in  after  years,  when  the  occasion  called  for  it,  he  passionately 
denied  that  he  had  ever  been  unchaste.  But  a  man's  weak- 
ness is  often  the  reaction  from  his  strength  ;  and  he  who  of  all 
men  aitcrwards  sought  for  reality  and  stood  with  worsliipping 
awe  before  the  sanctities  of  spiritual  things  was  guilty  of 
violent  outrage  against  reverence  and  truth.  The  marvellous 
force  which  in  after  years  displayed  itself  in  vividness  of 
spiritual  vision  and  burning  power  of  expression  ran  riot  in 
weird    blusphcmies    whicli     made  even    b!asj)li(>m(Ts    trcinbh*. 


60  JORJS' B  UNTAX.  [chap.  rv. 

"  Even  as  a  cliild,"  he  says,  "  I  had  few  equals  in  cursing, 
swearing,  lying,  and  blaspheming  the  holy  name  of  God." 
The  wickedness  begun  thus  early  lasted  long.  He  was  a 
grown  man,  when  one  who  was  "  herself  a  loose  and  ungodly 
wretch,"  and  therefore  not  over-nice,  "  protested  that  it  made 
her  tremble  to  hear  him,  that  he  was  the  ungodliest  fellow  for 
swearing  ever  she  heard  in  all  her  life,  and  that  it  was  enough 
to  spoil  all  the  youth  in  the  whole  town."  Sins  like  these  will 
be  variously  estimated.  There  is  no  ready  gauge  of  outward 
consequence  to  measure  their  inward  evil  as  in  the  case  of 
drunkenness  and  impurity.  Yet  spiritual  sins  may  be  even 
more  deadly  than  sensual  in  their  moral  recoil,  laying  waste 
the  powers  of  the  soul.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  spiritual 
condition  induced  by  persistent  lying  and  profane  blasphemy 
had  much  to  do  with  the  prolonged  and  terrible  struggles  of 
Bunyan's  after  years. 

The  intensity  of  these  struggles  was,  of  course,  largely  due 
to  the  intensity  of  the  spiritual  nature  in  which  they  took 
place.  As  the  storm  sweeps  most  wildly  and  makes  its  dole- 
fullest  moaning  through  the  tops  of  the  tallest  trees,  the  great- 
ness of  the  man  contributed  to  the  greatness  of  his  sufferings. 
They  were  intensified  also  by  his  ignorance  and  lack  of  spiri- 
tual guidance.  Many  of  the  shapes  with  which  he  wrestled  in 
deepest  anguish  were  the  phantoms  of  his  own  heated  imagina- 
tion, the  result  of  his  own  misinterpretation  of  the  book  of  God. 
The  battle  which  he  was  fighting  was,  of  course,  no  phantom ; 
it  is  the  one  battle  of  the  ages  for  all  who  in  a  world  of  sin  are 
seeking  for  the  life  of  God  ;  yet  it  might  have  been  shortened 
and  simplified  by  enlightened  friendly  aid.  But  it  was  Bun- 
yan's misfortune  to  be  surrounded  by  men  who,  either  from 
want  of  sympathy  or  lack  of  light,  could  help  him  very  little 
till  his  fiercest  battle  was  fought  out  and  ended.  As  in  the 
case  of  his  great  contemporary,  George  Fox,  men  "  spake  not 
to  his  condition,"  but,  and  it  was  perhaps  well,  he  was  all  the 
more  thrown  back  upon  God,  and  in  the  end,  as  always,  God 
was  faithful  to  His  own. 

In  following  this  story  of  spiritual  struggle  as  he  has  recorded 
it  for  us  with  his  own  burning  pen,  we  seem  at  first  to  be  look- 
ing upon  shifting  masses  of  cloud  driven  now  east,  now  west, 


1650.] 


SPIRITUAL  CONFLICT. 


61 


by  opposing  -winds,  mere  movement  ■v\itliout  progress.  But 
closer  observation  reveals  a  spiritual  order  under  the  seemino- 
spiritual  chaos.  The  swimmer  battling  lor  the  shore  is  driven 
buck  again  and  again  till  our  very  hearts  ache  for  him,  but 
he  gains  a  little  each  time,  and  reaches  land  at  last. 

There  are  some  natures  to  whom  the  great  spiritual  world  of 
the  unseen  is  always  present  as  the  background  of  life.  It  was 
so  with  Shakespeare.  It  was  so  also  with  Bunyan,  thouf>-h  in 
a  different  wav.     Even  when  he  was  a  child,  the  wronjr  thino-s 


Elstow  Greex. 


-•-.  >j- 


'•fS-*- . 


>•'  '^V.fj^'^^^'^- 


M 


01  the  day  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  remorse, 
and  fears,  and  dread 
dreams  of  the  night. 
But  the  real  struggle 
began  later,  when  after 
his  marriage  and  the 

reading  of  his  wife's  l)ooks,  he  was  seen  "going  to  church 
twice  a  day,  and  that  with  the  foremost."  lie  had  not  done 
this  long  before  tliere  arose  a  fight  witli  his  conscience  about 
Sunday  sports,  in  tlie  course  of  which  there  came  the  weird 
voices  that  seemed  to  be  shouted  into  his  ear  on  Elstow  Green. 
Somewhere  on  the  sward  round  llie  broken  i)ill;ir  of  the  old 
Market  Cross  he  was  one  Sunday  in  the  midst  of  a  game  of 
cat.  Ife  bad  struck  it  one  blow  from  tlie  hole  and  was  about 
to  fitriko  it  ibo  second  time,  when,  as  he  says,  "A  voice  did 
suddenly  dart  from  licaven  info  mv  soul,  which  said,  AVilt  thou 


m  JOHN  BUN  YAK  [chap.  iv. 

leave  thy  sins  and  go  to  heaven,  or  have  thy  sins  and  go  to 
hell  ?  At  this  I  was  put  to  an  exceeding  maze.  Wherefore, 
leaving  my  cat  upon  the  ground,  I  looked  up  to  heaven,  and 
was  as  if  I  had  with  the  eyes  of  my  understanding,  seen  the 
Lord  Jesus  looking  down  upon  me,  as  being  very  hotly  dis- 
pleased with  me."  Thus  conscience-stricken  he  afterwards 
made  a  desperate  fling  to  be  rid  of  conscience  altogether, 
only  to  find,  as  other  men  have,  that  its  grip  was  tighter 
than  he  thought.  Then  he  swung  round  again  and  fell  to 
some  outward  reformation,  gave  up  swearing,  took  to  read- 
ing the  historical  parts  of  the  Bible,  and  set  about  keeping 
the  commandments,  which  he  flattered  himself  he  did  prettj'' 
well;  so  that  in  those  days  he  thought  he  pleased  God  as 
well  as  any  man  in  England.  His  neighbours  were  struck  with 
the  change,  and  wondered  much  to  see  Mad  Tom  of  Bethlem 
become  a  sober  man.  Their  exclamations  of  surprise  flattered 
his  vanity,  he  became  proud  of  his  godliness,  and  laid  himself 
out  for  more  and  more  of  this  kind  of  incense  for  about  a 
twelvemonth  or  more. 

When  a  man  comes  under  the  dominion  of  conscience,  and  is 
a  stranger  to  love,  conscience  is  apt  to  become  somewhat  of  a 
tyrant ;  a  false  standard  is  set  up,  and  things  right  enough  in 
themselves  seem  to  become  wrong  to  the-  man.  Bunyan  had 
hitherto  taken  pleasure  in  the  somewhat  laborious  diversion  of 
ringing  the  bells  in  the  tower  of  Elstow  Church.  He  began 
to  think  this  was  wrong,  one  does  not  quite  see  why ;  still, 
having  this  misgiving  about  it,  he  gave  up  his  bell-ringing. 
But  not  the  love  of  it.  This  seems  to  have  lingered  with  him 
through  life.  Years  afterwards,  when  he  brings  his  pilgrims 
near  to  the  Celestial  City,  he  makes  all  the  bells  therein  give 
them  a  peal  of  welcome,  and  when  they  pass  within,  leaving  him 
without,  he  heard  in  his  dream  that  "  all  the  bells  in  the  city 
rang  again  for  joy."  One  can  easily  understand  that  in  these 
Elstow  days  it  was  with  many  a  pang  and  with  reluctant  step 
he  turned  from  the  belfry.  He  would  come  and  lean  against 
the  old  doorway,  and  look  longingly  while  some  neighbour 
pulled  the  bell-rope  which  he  half  felt  to  be  his.  Then  he  was 
afraid  even  to  do  this.  How  if  the  bells  should  fall  ?  How  if 
even  the  steeple  itself  should  comedown?     About  that  very 


1650.] 


SPIRITUAL  COXFLICT. 


63 


time  a  flash  of  Hglitniug  bad  struck  one  of  the  villag:o  churches 
oi  Bedfordshire,  and  "passing  througli  tlie  porch  into  the 
belfry,  tripped  up  his  heels  that  was  tolling  the  bell,  and  struck 
him  stark  dead.'"'  AVhat  if  this  should  happen  again  ?  So  the 
bell-ringing  went.   Then  there  was  the  dancing  with  his  neigh- 


% 


Uklfky  Doob,  Elstow. 

bours  in  tlie  old  Muot  ll;ill,  or  on  llie  village  green.  If  it  was 
liard  to  give  up  the  ringing,  it  was  liarder  still  to  give  up  the 
dancing.  It  wat»  a  full  year  before  he  could  (juite  leave  that, 
but  at  la.st  he  did,  and  tlicn  thouglit  he  to  himself,  "  God  can- 
not choose  but  be  pleased  with  me  now." 

iJut  if  it  is  distressing  to  feel  discontent  with  one's  self,  it  is 


64  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  iv. 

dangerous  to  feel  content ;  aspiration  and  not  self-complacency 
is  the  law  of  healthful  life ;  and  He  who  was  leading  Bunyan 
by  a  way  that  he  knew  not,  mercifully  shook  him  out  of  this 
unwholesome  self-satisfaction.  It  came  about  in  this  way. 
Going  one  day  into  Bedford,  to  work  at  his  trade  as  a  tinker, 
he  saw,  as  everybody  has  heard,  three  or  four  poor  women 
holding  godly  talk  together  as  they  sat  at  a  door  in  the  sun- 
shine. He  had  by  this  time  become  somewhat  of  a  brisk  talker 
on  religion  himself;  he  therefore  drew  near  and  listened.  He 
soon  found,  however,  that  their  talk  was  above  him,  and  he  had 
to  remain  silent.  They  moved  in  a  world  of  which  he  knew 
nothing ;  they  spoke  of  a  holy  discontent  with  themselves 
and  of  a  new  birth  from  above  ;  they  told  how  God  had  visited 
their  souls  with  His  love  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  with  what 
words  and  promises  they  had  been  refreshed,  comforted,  and 
strengthened  ;  they  "  spake  as  if  joy  did  make  them  speak," 
with  such  "  pleasantness  of  Scripture  language,  and  with  such 
appearance  of  grace  in  all  they  said,"  that  they  seemed  to  him 
to  have  found  a  new  world  to  which  he  was  altogether  a 
stranger.  He  was  humbled  yet  fascinated,  drawn  again  and 
again  into  their  company,  and  the  more  he  went  the  more  did 
he  question  his  condition,  the  more  there  came  over  him  a 
"great  softness  and  tenderness  of  Heart,  and  a  great  Bending 
in  his  mind  "  towards  godly  meditation. 

So  free  from  self-consciousness  is  true  life  that  he  in  whom 
faith  was  beginning  to  work  mightily,  now  began  to  wonder 
whether  he  had  any  faith  at  all.  How  can  he  find  out  ?  Shall 
he  put  it  to  the  test  of  miracle  on  the  rain  pools  in  the  Elstow 
road  ?  If  they  should  dry  up  at  his  word  then  there  would  be 
no  doubt.  But  if  not !  would  not  that  be  proof  positive  that 
he  "had  no  Faith  but  was  a  castaway  and  lost?"  It  is  a 
great  risk  to  run,  too  great,  *'  nay,  thought  I,  if  it  be  so,  I  will 
never  try  yet,  but  will  stay  a  little  longer." 

Then  blossomed  into  shape  his  wonderful  power  of  dreaming 
waking  dreams.  There  were  these  good  people  at  Bedford 
sitting  on  the  sunny  side  of  a  mountain,  while  he  was  separated 
from  them  by  a  wall  all  about,  and  shivering  in  the  cold. 
Round  and  round  that  wall  he  goes  to  see  if  there  be  no  open- 
ing, be  it  ever  so  narrow,  and  at  last  he  finds  one.     But  it  is 


1650-52.]  SPIRITUAL  CONFLICT.  6j 

narrow,  indeed  so  narrow  that  none  can  get  througli  but  those 
who  are  in  downright  earnest,  and  who  leave  the  wicked  world 
behind  them.     There  is  just  room  for  body  and  soul,  but  not 
for  body  and  soul  and  sin.     It  must  be  a  strait  s:ate  throujrh 
which  a  man  gets  rid  of  self;  but  by  dint  of  sidling  and  striving 
he  first  gets  in   his  head,   then   his  shoulders,  and    then  his 
whole   body,  at  which  he  is  exceeding  glad,  for  now  too  he 
is  in  the  sunshine  and  is  comforted.     But  as  yet  this  is  only  in 
a  dream,  and  dreams  tarry  not.      Before  long  he  is  out  of  sun- 
shine into  storm  again.     This  man  who  was  an  elect  soul,  if 
ever  there  was  one — elect  through  suffering  to  help  other  souls 
— begins  to  torment  himself  as  to  whether  he  is  elect  or  not. 
Perhaps  he  is  not.     How  if  the  day  of  grace  be  past  and  gone, 
and  he  has  overstood  the  time  of  mercy  ?     Oh,  would  that  he 
had  turned  sooner !    would  he  had  turned  seven  years  ago  ! 
"Words  cannot  tell  with  what  longings  imd  breakings  of  soul  he 
cried  to  heaven  to  call  him,  little  thinking  that  the  longings 
and  breakings  themselves  were  the  very  call  for  which  he  cried. 
Gold  !  could  this  blessing  be  gotten  for  gold,  what  would  he 
have  not  given  for  it  ?     For  this  the  whole  world  would  have 
gone  ten  thousand  times  over,  if  he  had  only  had  it.     Mean- 
time that  very  world  went  on  its  old  way.     How  strange  that 
it  should  ;   how  strange  that  people  should  go  luinting   after 
perishable  things  witli   eternal  things  before  them,  that  even 
Christian  people  hhould  make  so  much  of  mere  outward  losses! 
If  hifl  soul  were  only  right  with  God,  and  he  could  but  be  sure 
that  it  was,  he  should  count  himself  rich  with  nothing  but  bread 
and  water. 

Strange  alternations  of  gloom  and  glory  came  over  him. 
Sometimes  liis  soul  was  visited  with  such  visions  of  light  and 
hope  that  he  could  have  spoken  of  God's  love  and  mercy  to  the 
very  crows  on  tl»e  ploughed  land  before  him.  lie  thouglit  then 
that  he  should  never  forget  that  joy  even  in  forty  years'  time. 
But  alus  !  in  less  than  forty  days  the  vision  was  all  faded  and 
gone.  Worse  than  gone,  ior  there  now  came  down  upon  him 
a  great  storm  of  conflict  whicli  handled  him  twenty  times  worse 
than  before.  Star  alter  star  died  out  of  the  firmament  of  his 
hope;  darkness  sei/ed  up<jn  him,  and  to  liis  ama/ement  and 
confusion  a  whole  flood  of  doubts  and  blasphemies  poured  in 

F 


66  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap.  iv. 

upon  his  spirit.  They  seemed  to  he  coming  in  from  morning  to 
night,  and  to  be  carrying  him  away  as  with  a  mighty  whirl- 
wind. 

Yet  even  in  that  dark  time  of  despair  there  was  this  redeem- 
ing gleam  of  hope,  that  while  dreadful  things  were  pouring 
into  his  soul,  there  was  something  within  him  that  refused  to 
tolerate  them.  If  he  is  borne  along,  he  goes  struggling  and 
crying  for  deliverance,  like  the  child  some  gipsy  is  carrying  off 
by  force  and  fraud  from  friend  and  country.  A  man  is  safe  so 
long  as  the  citadel  of  his  own  will  is  kept.  There  is  the  turn- 
ing point  of  destiny — the  centre  of  life's  mystery.  And  all 
was  right  there.  Floods  of  temptation  came  dashing  against  the 
outworks,  but  within  he  had,  he  says,  great  yearnings  after 
God,  and  heart-affecting  apprehensions  of  Him  and  His  truth. 
So  that  he  really  was  making  way,  getting  out  of  himself  more 
and  on  to  the  solid  ground  of  divine  fact.  There  began  to  come 
to  him  such  words  as  these,  "  If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be 
against  us  ?  "  and  these,  "  He  hath  made  peace  by  the  blood  of 
His  cross."  Fortunately  too  for  him,  some  time  before  this  the 
good  people  at  Bedford  had  taken  him  to  hear  Mr.  Gifford,  their 
minister.  Under  his  teaching  how  was  his  soul  led  on  from 
truth  to  truth  by  the  Spirit  of  Truth  !  Even  from  the  birth 
and  cradle  of  the  Son  of  God  to  His  ascension  and  second  com- 
ing, he  was  "  orderly  led  "  into  the  gospel  story  ;  and  so  vivid 
was  everything  that  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  he  had  actually  seen 
Christ  born  and  grow  up,  seen  Him  walk  through  the  world 
from  the  cradle  to  the  cross,  had  actually  leaped  at  the  grave's 
mouth  for  joy  that  Christ  was  risen  again,  had  actually,  in 
spirit,  seen  Him  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  and  that  on 
his  behalf. 

At  this  stage  of  his  experience  also  it  was  his  hap  to  light 
upon  an  old  book,  a  book  so  old  that  it  was  ready  to  fall  to 
pieces  in  his  hand  if  he  did  but  turn  it  over.  Yet  never  was 
gold  more  precious.  For  he  found  his  own  condition  so  largely 
and  profoundly  handled  in  it,  as  if  it  had  been  written  out  of  his 
own  heart.  It  was  a  copy  of  the  "  Commentary  on  the  Galatians," 
by  Martin  Luther,  perhaps  the  one  man  of  all  the  centuries 
most  fitted  to  walk  with  Bunyan  along  that  part  of  his 
journey  which  lay  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death. 


1650-52.1  SPIRITUAL  CONFLICT.  67 

Bunvan,  like  his  own  Christian,  "  thought  he  heard  the  voice 
of  a  man  as  goings  before  him."  Grateful  indeed  was  he  for 
that.  "  This,  methinks,  I  must  let  fall  before  all  men.  I  do 
prefer  this  book  of  Martin  Luther  (excepting  the  Holy  Bible) 
before  all  books  that  ever  I  have  seen  as  most  fit  for  a  wounded 
conscience." 

One  temptation   loomed  large  in  his  experience.     He  was 

urged,  as  he  thought,  by  the  tempter  "to  sell  and  part  with 

the  blessed  Christ,  to  exchange  Him  for  the  things  of  this  life 

— for  anything."     Day  and  night  almost  for  a  whole  year  it 

was  with  him,  so  that  he  could  not  so  much  as  "  stoop  for  a  pin, 

chop  a  stick,  or  cast  his  eye  to  look  on  anything,"  without  the 

whisper  coming  into  his  soul,    "  Sell   Christ  for  this,  or  sell 

Christ  for  that;   sell  Ilim — sell  Him."     His  mental  agitation 

would  show  itself  in  bodily  movement.     lie  would  thrust  forth 

his  hands  or  elbows  in  deprecation,  and  as  fast  as  the  destroyer 

said,  "Sell  Him,"  he  would  say  back  to  him,  "I  will  not,  I 

will  not ;  no,  not  for  thousands,  thousands,  thousands  of  worlds." 

So  he  held  out  and  held  on,  but  at  length  one  morning,  as  he 

lay  in  his  bed  under  unusually  fierce   temptation,  he  felt  the 

thought  pass  througli  his  mind,  "  '  Let  Ilim  go  if  He  will ! '  Now 

was  the  battle  won  and  down  fell  I,  as  a  bird  that  is  shot  from 

the  top  of  a  tree,  into  great  guilt  and  fearful  despair."     The 

great  guilt  was  of  course  a  great  delusion,  the  mere  outcome  of 

a  vivid  brain  giving  concrete  shape  to  its  own  creations.     But 

though  the  sin  of  which  he  accused  himself  was  imaginary, 

very  far  from  imaginary  was  the  inward  misery  it  occasioned. 

No  sin,  thought  he,  was  like  his;  it  was  point-blank  against  hi.s 

Saviour.     "With  all  liis  ])icturesque  power  he  puts  his  case  in 

imagery  the  most  varied.     He  is,  he  says,  like  a  broken  ves.sel, 

driven    as  witli    tlie    winds;    as  those  that  jo.stlc  against  the 

rocks,   more  broken,   scattered,  and    rent;    he  is  as   a  house 

wlio.se  foundations  arc  destroyed  ;    as  a  drowning  child  in  u 

mill-pjnd;  or  he  seems  to  liimself  to  be  standing  at  tho  gate 

of  the  City  of  Refuge,  trembling  for  deliverance  and  with  tho 

avenger  of  blood  close  at  his  heels. 

He  remembered  long  years  afterwards  how  at  this  dark  time 
he  went  one  day  into  Ikdford  and,  spent  and  weary,  sat  down 
upon   a  settle  in  the  street.      It  scorned  to  liliii   then  as  if  the 

f2 


88  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  iv. 

v^ery  sun  in  the  heavens  did  grudge  to  give  hira  light,  as  if  the 
very  stones  in  the  street  and  the  tiles  upon  the  houses  did  bend 
themselves  against  him.      "  0  how  happy  now  was  every  crea- 
ture over  I  was  !   for  they  stood  and  kept  fast  their  station,  but 
I  was  gone  and  lost."     The  worst,  however,  was  now  past,  and 
daylight  was  near.     As  if  in  echo  to  his  own  self-reproaches  a 
voice  seemed  to  say  to  him,  "  This  sin  is  not  unto  death."     He 
wondered  at  the  fitness  and  the  unexpectedness  of  the  sentence 
thus  shot  into  his  soul.     The  "  power  and  sweetness  and  light 
and  glory  that  came  with  it  also    were  marvellous."      Then 
again  one  night  as  he  retired  to  rest  there  came  to  him  the 
quieting  assurance  :    "  I  have  loved  thee  with  an  everlasting 
love,"  and  next  morning  it  was  still  fresh  upon  his  soul.  Again 
when  doubts  came  as  to  whether  the  blood  of  Christ  was  sufficient 
to  save  him,  there  came  also  the  words,  "  He  is  able."     "Me- 
thought  this  word  able  was  spoke  loud  unto  me — it  showed  a 
great  word,  it  seemed  to  be  writ  in  great  letters."     One  day  as 
he  was  passing  into  the  field,  still  with  some  fears  in  his  heart, 
suddenly  this  sentence  fell  into  his  soul,  '' '  Thy  righteousness 
is  in  heaven  ; '  and  methought  withal  I  saw  with  the  eye  of  my 
soul,  Jesus  Christ  at  God's  right  hand,      I  saw,  moreover,  that 
it  was  not  my  good  frame  of  heart  that  made  my  righteousness 
better,   nor   yet  my  bad  frame  that  made  my  righteousness 
worse  ;  for  my  righteousness  was  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever.     Now  did  my  chains  fall 
from  my  legs  indeed  ;  I  was  loosed  from   my  afilictions   and 
irons.     Oh,  methought,  Christ !  Christ '  there  was  nothing  but 
Christ  that  was  before  my  eyes  !     I  could  look  from  myself  to 
Him  and  should  reckon  that  all  those  graces  of  God  that  now 
were  green  on  me,  were  yet  but  like  those  crack-groats  and 
fourpence  halfpennies  that  rich  men  carry  in  their  purses,  when 
their  gold  is  in  their  trunks  at  home !      Oh,  I  saw  my  gold 
was  in  my   trunk  at  home  !     In  Christ  my  Lord  and  Saviour  ! 
Now  Christ  was  all ;  all  my  wisdom,  all  my  righteousness,  all 
my  sanctification,  and  all  my  redemption  !  " 


V. 

THE  CllUrvCn  AT  BEDFORD. 

The  three  or  four  godly  women  whom  Bunyan  heard  talking 
together  in  the  summer  sunshine  about  their  experiences  of  a 
diviner  life,  introduced  him,  he  tells  us,  to  their  minister,  Mr. 
Giffbrd,  and  to  the  little  Christian  commuuitj^  of  which  they 
were  members.  This  simple  brotherhood  of  believers  is  interest- 
ing to  us  for  its  own  sake,  as  furnishing  one  of  the  phases  of 
religious  life  during  the  English  Commonwealth ;  and  interesting 
also  for  the  sake  of  Bunyan  himself,  who  for  the  next  five-and- 
thirty  years  of  his  life  was  closely  associated  with  its  history, 
first  as  a  private  member,  and  afterwards  as  its  pastor.  It  may 
be  worth  while,  therefore,  to  go  back  over  the  years  between 
1G40  and  1050,  and  see  how  this  Church  at  Bedford  came  to  be 
founded,  and  how  it  took  the  shape  it  did. 

The  Long  Parliament  having,  in  the  early  part  of  l(iU, 
received  the  address  of  the  two  thousand  petitioners  from  Bed- 
fordshire, of  which  we  have  spoken,  and  similar  addresses  from 
other  parts  of  the  country,  set  forth  in  earnest  on  the  work  of 
ecclesiastical  reform.  Commissioners  were  ordered  to  be  sent 
into  the  various  counties  for  "  tlie  defacing,  demolishing,  and 
quite  taking  away  of  all  images,  altars,  or  tables  turned  altar- 
wi.sc,  crucifixes,  superstitious  jjictures,  monuments,  and  relics 
of  idolatry  out  of  all  churches  and  chapels."  This  raid  upon 
wliat  was  regarded  as  popery  in  disguise,  though  determined 
on  then,  was  not  actually  carried  out  till  a  year  or  two  lai,er, 
and  was  simply  intended  as  preliminary  to  u  still  more  search- 
ing reform  of  the  entire  constitution  of  tlie  (Jhureh  of  England. 
As  to  what  that  reform  should  be,  the  House  was  by  no  means  as 
yot  agreed.  Some  were  for  retaining  Episcopacy,  first  jjurifying 
it  of  its  evils.     Others,  known  as  the  Koot-and-Branch  party, 


70  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  v. 

were  for  its  abolition,  for  tlie  annihilation  of  all  dignities  in 
the  Church  above  that  of  simple  presbyter  or  parish  minister, 
and  for  the  appropriation  of  ecclesiastical  revenues  to  the  uses 
of  the  State.  Without  having  arrived  at  any  very  definite  or 
open  agreement  on  the  matter,  this  party  more  and  more  aimed 
at  the  establishment  in  England  of  a  Church  after  the  Scottish 
Presbyterian  fashion.  Increasingly  it  began  to  be  felt  and  to 
be  said  that  the  Churches  of  England  and  Scotland  were 
"embarked  in  the  same  bottom,  to  sink  or  swim  together." 

In  February,  1642,  a  Bill  was  passed  for  the  exclusion  of 
bishops  from  Parliament ;  and  in  June  of  the  following  year 
an  ordinance  was  enacted  and  entered  on  the  Journals  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  to  the  effect  that  as  "the  present  Church 
government  by  archbishops,  bishops,  their  chancellors,  commis- 
saries,, deans  and  chapters,  archdeacons,  and  other  ecclesiastical 
officers  depending  on  the  hierarchy  is  evil,  and  justly  offensive 
and  burdensome  to  the  kingdom  .  .  .  the  same  shall  be  taken 
away,  and  such  government  settled  in  the  Church  as  may  be 
agreeable  to  God's  Holy  Word."  By  the  same  ordinance,  the 
ecclesiastical  committee  known  as  the  Westminster  Assembly 
of  Divines  was  appointed  to  confer  upon  such  matters  affecting 
the  liturgy,  discipline,  and  government  of  the  Church  as  Par- 
liament should  propose.  This  body  consisted  of  one  hundred 
and  forty-nine  persons  named  in  the  ordinance,  one  hundred 
and  nineteen  of  these  being  divines  fixed  upon  a  year  before. 
To  this  assembly  Thomas  Dillingham,  the  minister  of  Deane, 
and  Oliver  Bowles,  the  rector  of  Sutton,  were  called  from 
Bedfordshire.  Dillingham  was  too  old  and  infirm  to  take  his 
seat,  and  Bowles  died  the  following  year. 

In  1643  the  Committees  for  dealing  with  Scandalous  Minis- 
ters were  followed  by  a  Committee  for  Plundered  Ministers — 
these  being  men  who,  under  Laud  or  by  the  Royalist  army,  had 
been  ejected  from  their  livings.  As  the  plundered  were  in 
many  cases  put  in  the  place  of  the  scandalous,  the  latter  com- 
mittee dealt  with  both.  There  was  a  central  committee  in 
London,  and  smaller  committees  in  the  counties,  the  latter 
subordinate  to  the  former,  and  both  to  Parliament ;  and  under 
these  the  work  of  judging  ministers  who  were  scandalous  in 
life,   or  erroneous  in  doctrine,  who  had  deserted  their  cures. 


1644-47.]  THE  CnURCH  AT  BEDFORD.  71 

or  assisted  the  forces  raised   against  rarliaraent,  proceeded  in 
the  most  orderly  and  business-like  fashion. 

How  far  the  clergy  of  Bedfordshire  were  atlccted  by  these 
proceedings  may  be  very  fairly  gathered  from  the  minutes 
of  the  central  committee  in  London  which  have  been  preserved. 
"Walker,  writing  of  the  sufferings  of  the  clergy  during  the 
Civil  Wars,  when  speaking  of  this  county  is  both  inaccurate 
and  incomplete.  He  mentions  the  following  ministers  of 
parishes  as  being  sequestered  from  their  livings  :  —  In  the 
toirn  of  Bedford  :  Giles  Thorne  of  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Cuth- 
bert's  ;  Jolm  Bradshaw  of  St.  Paul's  ;  and  Theodore  Crowky 
of  St.  John's.  In  the  count;/  of  Bedford  :  Dr.  Pocklington  of 
Yelden  ;  Bobert  Payne  of  Little  Barford  ;  Edward  Martin  of 
Houghton  Conquest ;  Francis  Walsall  of  Sandy ;  the  Vicar  of 
Chalgrave,  name  unknown  ;  John  "Warren  of  Melchbourne ; 
and  John  Gwin  of  Cople.*  In  three  cases  out  of  these  ten 
Walker  is  certainly  wrong.  He  relates  a  pathetic  story  about 
John  Bradshaw,  to  the  effect  that,  in  consequence  of  his 
sequestration,  his  wife  and  four  small  children  were  left  at 
his  death  in  such  extreme  straits  as  to  be  under  the  necessity 
of  begging  from  a  public  charity.  But,  first,  State  Papers 
already  quoted  (p.  14)  show  that  Bradshaw  was  persecuted, 
not  by  Parliament  for  being  a  Royalist,  but  by  Laud  for  being 
a  Puritan.  The  court  before  which  he  had  to  appear  was  that 
Court  of  High  Commission  which  Parliament  abolished  and  of 
which  Laud  was  the  controller  and  instigator.  Then,  too,  the 
story  of  the  destitution  of  his  widow  and  children  as  arising 
from  his  sequestration  is  seen  to  be  apocryphal  from  the  follow- 
ing entry  in  the  register  of  his  own  parisli  clmrch  : — "Jolin 
Jiradshaw  did  again  become  vicar  of  St.  Paul's  parish  Ma}', 
lOGO,  and  continued  till  1G70;"  that  is,  of  course,  till  ten 
years  after  the  Restoration.  Walker  is  incorrect  also  about 
Dr.  Francis  Walsall,  tlie  rector  of  Sandy.  It  is  certain  that 
Walsall  went  so  far  in  his  Royalist  sympathies  as  to  bo  with 
the  king's  army  at  Oxford;  it  is  ecpially  certain  that  ho 
was  not  removed  from  liis  living.  The  register  and  transcript 
registers    of    the     parish    show    beyond    <h)ubt    lliat    lie    was 

•  Suffer  ituj  I  of  the  CUryij,  by  Joliu  Wulker,  1711,   IJodforiLjhiro,  pp.  1811,  Jll, 
30a,  320,  :J74,  .'J'JO,  417. 


Y2  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap.  v. 

rector  of  Sandy  all  through  the  Commonwealth  period,  and 
at  the  Restoration  sent,  in  his  own  handwriting,  the  return 
of  the  previous  ten  years  to  the  Registry  of  the  Archdeaconry. 
And  as  for  John  Gwin,  the  vicar  of  Cople,  whom  Walker 
classes  among  his  clerical  sufferers,  we  know  that  he  was 
set  aside  from  his  living  by  his  Majesty's  Commission  for 
causes  ecclesiastical  before  the  Civil  "War  began,  therefore 
before  the  Committee  for  Scandalous  Ministers  was  even 
thought  of.  And  if  the  miserable  story  of  debauchery  told 
about  him  in  a  pamphlet  of  1641  be  true,  or  at  all  near 
the  truth,  the  pity  is,  not  that  he  was  set  aside  from  the 
ministry,  but  that  he  was  not  set  aside  sooner. 

But  if  Walker  is  thus  inaccurate  on  the  one  hand,  on  the 
other  hand  he  is  incomplete ;  and  there  were  sequestrations 
among  the  Bedfordshire  clergy  of  which  he  seems  not  to  have 
heard.  The  case  of  Hugh  Reeve,  vicar  of  Ampthill,  who  was 
arrested  by  the  sergeant- at- arms  for  popish  practices  as  early  as 
1641,  has  been  already  mentioned.  There  were  also  seques- 
tered—  John  Goodwin  of  Leighton  Buzzard,  the  vicar  of 
Luton  ;  Edward  Marten  of  Houghton  Conquest ;  Dr.  Archer 
of  Mepershall ;  Mr.  Carr,  the  curate  of  Millbrook ;  Edward 
Savage  of  Tilbrook  ;  John  Bird  of  Hawnes  ;  William  Parreter 
of  Carlton  ;  Francis  Kines  of  Tilsworth  ;  Anthony  Waters  and 
Oliver  Thorowgood,  the  vicar  and  curate  of  Bromham;  William 
Ramsay  of  Elitton  ;  William  Witton  of  Tingrith  ;  William 
Lake  of  Little  Staughton  ;  Nathaniel  Hill  of  Renhold  ;  Giles 
Kinge  of  Tempsford ;  and  George  Speeres  of  Potton.*  In 
addition  to  these  cases.  Dr.  Hammond,  and  Gilbert  Sheldon, 
afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  were  detained  in  a  kind 
of  honourable  captivity  at  Clapham,  near  Bedford,  in  the  house 
of  Sir  Philip  Warwick,  Dr.  Hammond  often  preaching  in  the 
parish  church,  "  the  poverty  of  the  place  protecting  the  minister 
in  his  reading  the  Common  Prayer." 

The  sequestrations  which  took  effect  among  the  parish  clergy 
of  Bedfordshire,  as  elsewhere,  were  issued  of  course  on  various 
grounds.     Some  incumbents  were  set  aside  simply  because  they 

*  Minutes  of  Committee  of  Plundered  Ilinisters :  Addl.  MSS.  15669,  15670, 
15671.  These  minutes  are  in  three  vols.  MS.,  and  were  purchased  from,  the 
executors  of  the  Dean  of  Lincoln  for  the  British  Museiun  in  1846 


1G44-47.]  THE  CEVRCII  AT  BEDFORD.  73 

were  pluralists,  John  Bird,  the  vicar  of  Ilinvnes,  for  example, 
being  proceeded  against  for  holding  also  the  rectory  of  Ba^-leham, 
county  Suflolk.  Others  were  removed  for  graver  reasons.  Old 
Thomas  Fuller,  no  prejudiced  witness,  says  plainly  that  not  a 
few  of  the  clergy  iirst  ejected  were  really  men  of  scandalous 
lives.  JohnAilmer,  the  vicar  of  Melchbournc,  is  described  as  "a 
comon  frequenter  of  Ale-houses,  and  tipler  there,  as  well  on  the 
Lord's  dayes  as  on  other  dayes,  and  a  common  drunkard." 
Oliver  Thorowgood  is  spoken  of  as  a  scandalous  curate  ;  and 
similar  charges  were  made  against  William  Ramsey,  the  vicar 
of  Flitton-cum-Silsoe.  Edward  Marten  of  Houghton  Conquest, 
like  Pocklingtou  and  Reeve,  was  charged  with  papistical  inno- 
vations, openly  praying  for  those  in  purgatory,  and  bowing 
five  times  before  the  altar  each  time  he  Avent  up  and  came  down 
the  steps.  He  admitted  also,  before  the  committee,  that  he  had 
lent  money  to  the  king  for  purposes  of  war;  and  his  parishioners 
charged  him  with  not  having  preached  more  than  five  times 
all  the  five  years  he  had  been  parson  of  Houghton,  Others 
of  the  clergy  came  under  the  strong  hand  of  Parliament  for 
assailing  its  authority  and  actively  joining  the  Royalists. 
2s^athaniel  Hill  of  Renhold  was  sequestered  for  long  absence 
and  being  in  the  king's  army.  It  was  charged  against  Savage 
of  Tilbrook,  that  he  had  expressed  "  great  malignancy  against 
Parliament,  calling  them  rogues  and  rascals,  and  inveighing 
against  them  with  fearful  curses;"  while  Witton  of  Tingrith 
"published  the  king's  proclamation  from  his  pulpit,"  at  tho 
same  time  "proclaiming  the  Earl  of  Essex  and  all  his  adherents 
traytors,  refusing  to  publish  the  declarations  of  Parliament,  and 
otherwise  expressing  great  malignancy." 

These  clerical  partisans  of  the  lioyalist  cause,  who  were  at 
no  pains  to  conceal  their  convictions,  suUered  of  course,  as 
men  expect  to  suffer  who  actively  espouse  tho  unsuccessful 
side  in  the  bitterest  of  all  conflicts,  that  of  civil  war.  But 
the  Committees  for  Ministers  certainly  professed  caro  and 
leniency  in  determining  who  should  bo  set  aside.  The  mere 
existence  of  adverse  opinions,  apart  from  active  hostility, 
was  not  sufficient  to  procure  sequestration.  AN'illiain  Lindall, 
for  instance,  was  described  by  IJunyau  in  l(j(i(J  as  tliat  "old 
enemy  to  tho  truth,  Dr.  Lindall;"  vet  all  through  tho  Com- 


74  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  v. 

monwealth  time  he  remained  vicar  of  Harlington.  Two- 
thirds  of  the  Episcopal  clergy  of  the  county  remained  un- 
disturbed in  their  livings,  while  in  the  case  of  the  seques- 
trated, one-fifth  of  the  income  of  every  ejected  minister  of  a 
parish  church  was  reserved  for  the  maintenance  of  his  family. 
In  some  cases,  as  in  the  village  of  Clapham,  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  continued  to  be  used  in  public  worship  ;  and 
it  would  seem  as  if  there  was  some  kind  of  oificial  position  still 
retained  by  archdeacons  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  The  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  parish  register  of  Sundon  is  interesting  as 
bearing  on  this  point,  and  as  relating  to  people  of  whom  we 
shall  hear  again  in  the  course  of  this  narrative  : — "  1653.  "Wil- 
liam ifoster,  of  Bedford,  gent.,  and  Anne  Wingate,  the  daughter 
of  John  Wingate,  Esq.,  deceased,  of  Harlington,  gent.,  were 
married  Septemb.  22  by  John  [qy.  William  ?]  Lindall,  Doctr. 
of  Divinity,  by  vertue  of  a  license  from  the  Archdeacon."  * 

Perhaps  next  to  Dr.  Pocklington,  Giles  Thorne,  Rector  of 
St.  Mary's  and  St.  Cuthbert's,  in  Bedford,  was  the  most  con- 
spicuous sufi"erer  on  the  Episcopal  side.  Both  these  men,  as 
ofiicials  of  the  Commissary's  Court,  had  been  prominent  in 
enforcing  the  exactions  made  upon  the  clergy  by  the  king  for 
the  purposes  of  the  Scottish  expedition,  and  they  had  also  sup- 
ported up  to  the  hilt  the  reactionary  policy  of  Laud.  ^Naturally, 
therefore,  they  were  marked  for  reprisals  when  the  fortunes  of 
the  king  were  eclipsed.  Thorne  was  a  high-handed  ecclesiastic, 
against  whose  proceedings  there  was  earnest  protest  on  the 
part  of  his  parishioners  even  before  the  day  of  the  Long 
Parliament  had  dawned.  There  is  among  the  State  Papers 
a  petition  to  Archbishop  Laud  against  him  from  Thomas  and 
Dinah  Margetts,  who  lived  in  his  parish  of  St.  Mary's,  and 
whom  he  had  harassed  and  all  but  ruined  in  the  Commissary's 
Court  and  the  Court  of  Arches  for  saying  that  "he  maintained 
ill  vices  or  unlawful  recreations,  as  Whitsun  ales,  maypoles,  and 
dancings."  They  plead  with  the  Archbishop  that  they  have 
"nyne  small  children  and  nothing  but  their  daily  labour  to 
sustain  them,  and  they  humbly  beseech  His  Grace  (of  his  godly 
inclinacon  to  love  and  peace)  to  caU  the  said  Mr.  Thorne  before 

*  Bedfordshire  Notes  and  Queries.     Extracts   from   the   Tarisit   Registers  of 
Sundon,  p.  233. 


1644-47.]  THE  CnURCH  AT  BEDFORD.  T.-S 

liira."  This  petition  of  theirs  liad  annexed  to  it  a  petition  in 
support  of  its  prayer  from  eight}^  or  ninety  of  the  leading 
inhabitants  of  the  town,  including  the  mayor,  in  which  Thorne 
was  further  charged  with  harassing  a  gentlewoman  of  his  parish 
for  going  to  a  christening  in  another  parish,  and  a  poor  old 
woman  of  eighty  for  "  going  out  of  the  parish  on  Saboth  daies 
to  take  her  dynner  and  supper  of  her  ownc  children  by 
charity."  * 

All  this  was  before  the  turn  of  the  tide  ;  and  when  the  turn 
had  come  Thorne  was  naturally  one  of  the  first  to  feel  the 
change.  In  the  month  of  August,  1642,  articles  were  lodged 
against  him  in  the  House  of  Lords,  in  which  he  was  charged 
with  saying  in  St.  Mary's  church,  "  that  Confession  to  a  priest 
was  as  ancient  as  Religion,  as  the  Scriptures,  yea,  as  ancient  as 
God  Himsclfe  " — "  a  high  blasphemy,"  say  the  petitioners, 
"  and  point-blank  papistery."  ^Vith  sublime  unconsciousness 
of  the  reflexive  application  of  his  words  to  himself,  he  also 
said  in  his  sermon  that,  *'  though  delivered  by  the  mouth  of 
Balaam's  Asse,  and  though  the  minister  have  as  little  witt  as 
Balaam's  Asse,  yet  the  Word  is  the  "Word,  and  the  King's 
Proclamation  is  his  proclamation,  though  delivered  by  the 
mouth  of  a  Traitor."  He  was  further  charged  with  preaching 
against  Parliament,  and  in  reproof  and  discouragement  of  the 
raising  of  volunteers  for  the  defence  of  the  kingdom.  It  was, 
however,  mainly  upon  political  grounds  that  he  was,  as  already 
stated,  arrested  by  Lord  St.  John's  troopers  as  he  left  the  pulpit 
of  St.  Cuthbert's  church  one  Sunday  evening,  and  carried 
prisoner  to  the  Swan.  Summoned  afterwards  to  the  bar  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  he  was  remanded  first  to  the  Fleet  and  then  to 
Ely  House,  being  detained  about  five  years,  and  released  in 
1047. 

In  some  few  cases  the  clergy  resisted  thiir  displacement  by 
means  of  physical  force.  Giles  King  of  Tempslord,  for  example, 
refused  to  yield  his  rectory  to  his  successor,  and  was  summoned 
for  contempt.  As  he  would  neither  yield  nor  appear,  it  was 
ordered  (July  20th,  1047),  "  that  the  Serjeant-at-Arms  of  tho 
House  of  Commons  or  his  deputie  doe  bring  the  said  ]\rr.  King 
in  safe  custodie  before  this  Committee  to  answer  liis  said  con- 
•  Stale  I'apcrB,  Lorn.,  IGlOCr).     Vol.  cccclxxiv.  40. 


76  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  v. 

tempt."  George  Speeres  also,  who  was  succeeded  by  another 
Mr.  Kinge,  "intruded  himself  into  the  Vicarage  house,  being 
violent  upon  the  said  Mr.  Kinge,  his  wife  and  servant."  * 

When  the  recalcitrant  clergy  had  been  subdued,  and  the  old 
system  of  government  by  bishops  set  aside,  then  came  the 
anxious  question  as  to  what  form  the  new  State  Church  should 
take.  In  London  and  Lancashire  Presbyterianism,  duly  orga- 
nized and  established,  had  taken  the  place  of  Episcopalianism. 
It  was  not  altogether  a  new  thing  in  the  country ;  for  as  early 
as  1572  a  Presbytery  had  been  set  up  at  Wandsworth,  in 
Surrey,  and  under  the  direction  of  the  celebrated  Thomas  Cart- 
wright,  Presbyterianism  attained  such  dimensions  that  between 
1580  and  1590  there  were  no  fewer  than  five  hundred  bene- 
ficed clergy  of  the  Church  of  England,  most  of  them  Cambridge 
men,  who  were  pledged  to  the  revised  form  of  the  Wandsworth 
Directory  of  Discipline.  The  movement  was  especially  strong 
in  the  counties  of  Essex,  Cambridge,  Northampton,  Leicester, 
Eutland  and  Warwick.  "  Classes  "  were  held  secretly  at  the  Bull, 
at  Northampton,  under  the  presidency  of  Edward  Snape,  curate 
of  St.  Peter's  in  that  town,  and  attended  by  the  clergy  of 
Higham  Ferrars,  Wellingborough,  and  eight  or  nine  other 
neighbouring  towns.  This  movement  was  not  without  signifi- 
cance, and  though  it  was  put  down  by  Archbishop  Whitgift, 
it  still  lingered,  a  silent  thought,  in  the  hearts  of  many  all 
through  the  reigns  of  James  and  Charles.  As  soon,  therefore, 
as  the  Long  Parliament  had  dispensed  with  bishops  there  was 
once  more  a  Presbyterian  movement  in  England.  For  about 
two  years  it  seemed  as  if  it  were  about  to  carry  all  before  it. 
In  1643  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  which,  by  the  Avay, 
must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Scottish  National  Covenant 
of  1638,  was  ordered  to  be  subscribed  and  sworn  to  by  the 
whole  English  realm.  The  Houses  of  Parliament  set  the 
example  in  St.  Margaret's  Church,  and  in  the  country  the 
signing  went  on  for  months,  the  Covenant  becoming  the  watch- 
word of  party  and  the  test  paramount  of  the  citizen.  In  every 
parish  church  it  was  read  aloud  to  the  congregation,  who  were 
called  upon  to  swear  to  it  with  uplifted  hands,  and  afterwards 
to  sign  it  with  name  or  mark,  all  refusals  being  duly  reported. 

*  Minutes,  vol.  iii. 


1644.]  TEE  CHURCH  AT  BEDFORD.  77 

Governors  of  towns  and  garrisons  were  required  to  impose  it 
upon  their  soldiers.  No  subject  could  practise  in  the  courts 
of  law,  or  become  a  common  council-man,  or  hold  office  of 
trust  till  he  had  pledged  himself.  Copies  of  the  Covenant, 
having  attached  to  them  the  names  of  all  parishioners  above 
the  age  of  eighteen,  are  still  to  be  found  among  corporation 
records  and  in  parish  archives.  In  the  library  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  there  is  a  copy  which,  was  found  a  few 
years  ago  in  the  roof  of  the  old  rectory  of  Swyneshed,  to  the 
north  of  Bedfordshire,  and  bearing  the  signatures  of  Thomas 
"WTiitehand,  the  minister,  and  fifty  of  his  parishioners.  lie 
had  evidently  not  liked  to  destroy  it,  even  after  the  Restora- 
tion came  in.  He  had  seen  Episcopacy  displaced  by  Prcsby- 
terianism,  and  then  again  Presbyterianism  by  Episcopacy  ;  and 
in  this  uncertain  world  who  could  say  what  might  happen 
again  ?  The  coil  of  parchment,  therefore,  was  not  shrivelled 
in  flame,  but  hidden  away  in  the  old  rectory  roof,  where  it 
came  to  light  in  this  generation,  bearing  the  names  of  the 
parishioners  who  had  signed  it  in  the  summer  months  of  1G44. 
The  following  January  saw  the  climax  of  Presbyterianism 
in  England,  for  on  the  4th  of  that  month  an  Ordinance  of  the 
Commons  passed  the  Lords,  abolishing  the  use  of  the  Prayer 
Book  and  adopting  the  New  Westminster  Directory,  a  subse- 
quent Act  of  I'arliament  decreeing  that  England  as  well  as 
Scotland  should  he  Presbyterianised.  But  it  is  one  thing  to 
pass  an  Act  of  Parliament  and  quite  another  to  secure  the 
religious  assent  of  a  nation.  From  various  causes  the  work 
Imng  fire.  Even  in  London  and  Lancashire  the  system  was 
not  organized  till  the  following  year,  and  tlic  rest  of  the 
country  was  less  eager  still.  The  Episcopalians  were  naturally 
averse,  and  at  the  opposite  pole  of  thought  were  many  who 
were  favourable  to  a  Congregational  form  of  polity,  and  luh! 
that  the  early  churches  were  separate  brotherhoods  of  be- 
lievers. Ever  since  the  days  of  Elizabeth  there  had  been 
voluntary  associations  based  on  this  principle  in  Norfolk, 
iSufl'olk,  Essex,  and  London.  Some  of  their  leaders  perished 
on  the  scaffold,  but  their  convictions  did  not  perish  with  them. 
The  principle  they  laid  down  was  that  "  the  magistrate  is  not 
to  meddle  with  religion  or  matter  of  conscience,    nor  compel 


-78  JOSN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  v. 


men  to  this  or  that  form  of  religion,  because  Christ  is 
King  and  Lawgiver  of  the  Church  and  Conscience."  These 
convictions  lived  on,  obtaining  wider  lodgment  in  the  hearts 
of  Christian  men,  and,  through  the  lips  of  Philip  ISTye,  the 
vicar  of  Kimbolton,  and  four  others,  found  expression  even  in 
the  Westminster  Assembly  itself.  Many  were  beginning  to 
think  that  the  Presbyterianism  of  that  time  was  not  as  wide 
and  tolerant  as  it  might  be,  and  that  there  was  little  use  in 
merely  exchanging  one  form  of  yoke  for  another. 

These  opinions  found  strong  support  in  Bedfordshire  at  a  very 
early  stage  in  the  national  conflict.  It  so  happened  that  there 
was  in  the  county  at  that  time,  as  rector  of  one  of  its  parishes,  a 
man  of  considerable  intellectual  force  and  strong  individuality 
of  character,  with  whom  we  shall  find  Bunyan  in  close  personal 
relations  at  a  later  period,  and  who  did  more  than  most  men  in 
furthering  these  views  both  in  the  army  and  in  the  nation. 
This  was  William  Dell,  the  rector  of  Yelden.  He  was  a  native 
of  Bedfordshire,  having  been  born  near  Maulden  or  Westoning, 
was  a  Fellow  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  and  had  been 
episcopally  ordained.  When  Dr.  Pocklington  was  sequestrated 
in  1642,  Dell  succeeded  him  in  the  rector v  of  Yelden,  and  as 
his  parish  was  near  to  Melchbourne  Park,  he  was  brought  into 
frequent  intercourse  with  the  Earl  of  Bolingbroke,  who  with 
the  Countess  attended  his  ministry,  which  they  seem  greatly 
to  have  valued.  Through  this  connection  Dell  was  brought 
into  intimate  relation  with  all  the  great  Commonwealth  leaders. 
In  1645-6  he  was  chaplain  to  the  army  under  General  Fairfax, 
and  was  the  person  appointed  to  bring  the  articles  of  the  sur- 
render of  Oxford  to  Parliament.  In  1649,  on  the  sequestra- 
tion of  Thomas  Batchcroft,  he  was  made  master  of  Gonville 
and  Caius  College,  still  retaining  his  Bedfordshire  rectory,  and 
was  one  of  the  commissioners  sent  to  attend  Charles  I.  before 
his  execution.  His  position  while  with  the  army  gave  him 
great  influence  and  many  opportunities  of  spreading  his 
opinions  among  the  leaders  of  the  time,  and  his  sermons  both 
before  the  House  of  Commons  and  in  the  country  were  matter 
of  frequent  debate  in  Parliament  and  of  entries  in  the  Journals 
of  both  Houses.  He  strenuously  resisted  the  establishment  of 
any  national  lorm   of  religion.     He  held  strong  views  on  the 


1645-50.]  THE  CITURCn  AT  BEDFORD.  79 

spirituality   of  the   Chuvcli   of  Christ,  and  was  averse  to  all 
stereotyped  uniformity  in  its  organization  and  worship. 

"In  nature,"  says  he,  "is  no  external  unifonnit}- ;  variety  of 
fonn  in  the  world  is  the  beauty  of  the  world.  Even  in  earthly 
governments  there  is  no  sameness  :  York  is  not  governed  as  Hull, 
nor  Hull  as  Halifax.  In  Godmanchester  the  youngest  son  inherits, 
and  across  the  bridge  at  Huntingdon  the  eldest.  And  what  tyranny 
it  would  be  to  compel  a  man  every  day  in  the  week  to  a  uniformity 
of  life,  using  the  same  positions,  speaking  the  same  words,  or  sitting, 
standing,  or  walkiug  at  the  same  set  times.  But  how  much  more 
evil  is  it  to  insist  upon  uniformity  in  the  life  of  a  Christian,  and  of 
the  Churches  of  Christ,  taking  away  aU  freedom  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  who,  being  one  with  God,  works  in  the  freedom  of  God." 
'-  God  hath  not  set  up  any  company  of  men  or  synod  in  tlie  world 
to  sliine  to  a  whole  nation  so  that  all  people  shall  be  constrained  to 
follow  their  judgment  and  to  walk  in  their  light.  If  two  or  three 
Cliristians  in  the  country,  being  met  in  the  name  of  Christ,  have 
Clirist  Himself  with  His  Word  and  Spirit  among  them,  they  need 
not  ride  many  miles  to  London  to  know  what  to  do."  "  What  wild 
and  woful  work  do  men  make  when  they  will  have  the  Church  of 
God  thus  and  thus,  and  get  the  power  of  the  magistrate  to  back 
theirs,  as  if  the  new  heavens  wherein  the  Lord  will  dwell  must  be 
the  work  of  their  own  lingers,  or  as  if  the  New  Jerusalem  must  of 
nece.ssity  come  out  of  the  Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster." 
"  It  is  a  great  dislxonour  done  to  God  and  His  Word  when  wo  can- 
not trust  His  Word  to  do  its  work,  but  must  be  calling  in  the  power 
of  the  world.  But  if  tlie  power  of  the  Word  will  not  reform  men, 
all  the  power  of  the  world  will  never  do  it.  Luther  said  well  when 
ho  said,  '  I  will  preach,  and  teach,  and  write,  but  I  will  constrain 
nobody.'  " 

J)ell  plainly  said  he  did  not  sec  what  was  gained  by 
knocking  down  an  establishment  of  Episcopacy  only  to  set 
up  an  establishment  of  I'resbytcrianisra.  "For  what," 
asks  he,  "  is  a  National  Asscmbl}'  but  an  Arclibisliop  multi- 
l>lied,  and  what  a  Provincial  Assembly  but  a  Bishop  multi- 
plied ?  and  a  Classical  but  a  Dean  and  Archdeacon  multiplied  ? 
Thus,  the  former  lords  being  removed,  the  Church  would 
swarm  with  other  lords,  and  Christ's  own  kingdom  would  never 
1)0  suffered  to  return  to  Christ's  own  lordship  and  dominion." 
lu  the  true  Church  of  Chri.st,  Dell  goes  on  to  say,  there  aro  no 


80  JOBN  BTJNYAN.  [chap  v. 

distinctions  nor  differences  of  persons,  no  clergy  or  laity,  all 
are  as  Peter  says,  "  A  chosen  generation,  a  royal  priesthood." 
Presbyters  and  bishops  differ  only  in  office,  not  in  character, 
from  the  rest  of  the  Church,  and  that  office  they  receive  from 
the  Church,  as  an  alderman  or  common  council-man  differs 
from  the  rest  of  the  citizens,  not  in  themselves,  but  only  by  the 
city's  choice.  "  And  all  Churches  are  equal  as  well  as  all 
Christians,  all  being  sisters  of  one  mother,  beams  of  one  sun, 
branches  of  one  vine,  streams  of  one  fountain,  members  of  one 
body,  bi'anches  of  one  golden  candlestick,  and  so  equal  in  all 
things."  * 

Such  were  the  opinions  of  William  Dell  of  Yelden,  opinions 
which  greatly  influenced  the  course  of  Free  Church  life  in  the 
neighbouring  town  of  Bedford.      There  would  seem  to  have 
been  a  separate  congregation  founded  about  1643,  which,  how- 
ever, appears  to  have  been  of  no  long  continuance.     All  that 
we  know  of  it  is   that  its  minister  was  Benjamin  Coxe.     He 
was  the  son  of  a  bishop,  was  himself  a  graduate  of  one  of  the 
Universities,  and  a  man  of  learning.      Formerly  a  beneficed 
clergyman  in  the  county  of  Devon,  he  had  been  a  zealous  up- 
holder of  Laud's  opinions.     But  in  the  conflicts  of  the  time  a 
change  came  over  his  views  ;  he  was  led  to  embrace  Congrega- 
tional principles,  and  published  a  little  quarto  volume  setting 
forth  "the   unlawfulness  of  giving  the  name  of  church  to  a 
house  made  of  lime  and  stone,  and  the  name  of  churches  to 
parochiall  congregations."   How  he  found  his  way  into  Bedford- 
shire we  have  no  means  of  knowing.     He  is  described  as  "  for 
some  time  minister  of  Bedford,"   and  as  being   "  an  antient 
minister  and  of  good  reputation  both  for  piety  and  learning." 
E-ichard  Baxter  tells  us  that  in  1643  Coxe  was  sent  for  from 
Bedford  to  conduct  a  controversy  in  Coventry,  which  ended  in 
his  being  sent  to  Coventry   gaol.     He   appears   not   to  have 
returned  to  Bedford,  for  three  years  later  we  find  him  in  prison 
in  London,  for  distributing  to  the   members  of  Parliament  a 
Confession  of  the  Faith  held  by  himself  and  his  brethren  on 
the  questions  of  the  time. 

Seven  years  after  the  brief  ministry  of  Benjamin  Coxe  had 
ended,  a  Free  Church  was  founded  in  Bedford  in  1650,  which 

*  Select  Works  of  William  Dell,  London,  1773. 


1648.]  THE  CHURCH  AT  BEDFOnn.  81 

was  destined  to  be  more  permanent,  to  last,  indeed,  down  to 
our  own  times.  This  was  the  Church  with  which  for  tive-and- 
thirty  years  Bunyan's  religious  life  was  so  closely  identified. 
The  records  of  this  church  have  fortunately  been  preserved, 
presenting  a  vivid  picture  of  the  reality  and  earnestness  of  the 
majority  of  those  who  first  composed  its  fellowship.  The 
earliest  of  these  records,  those  embracing  the  years  between 
IG-jG  and  1G72,  appear  to  have  been  copied  from  an  earlier 
book  by  a  professional  scrivener,  presenting  an  unusually  beau- 
tiful example  of  the  writing  of  the  period. 

Prefixed  to  the  minutes  of  the  acts  of  the  church  there  is  a 
short  historical  sketch,  commencing  thus : — 

"In  this  Towne  of  Bedford  and  the  places  adjacent,  there  hath 
of  a  long  time  bene  persons  godly,  who  in  former  times  (even  while 
they  remained  without  all  forme  and  order  as  to  visible  Churcli 
Coimuunion  according  to  y*  Testament  of  Christ)  were  very  zealous 
according  to  their  light,  not  ouoly  to  edify  tliomselves  but  also  to 
propagate  the  Gospell  and  help  it  forward,  both  by  purse  and  pre- 
sence, keeping  alwa^'es  a  door  open  and  a  table  furnished,  and  free 
for  all  buch  ministers  and  Christians  who  shewed  their  zeale  for  and 
love  to  the  Gospell  of  Christ.  Among  these  that  reverend  man, 
Mr.  John  Grew,  was  chief,  also  Mr.  John  Eston,  sen.,  and  brother 
Anthony  HuiTington,  with  others  ;  Men  that  in  those  times  were 
euuliled  of  God  to  adventure  farre  in  shewing  their  detestation  of 
y*  bishops  and  their  superstitions.  But  as  I  saide,  these  persons 
with  many  more  neither  were,  nor  yet  desired  to  be,  embodied  into 
fellowship  according  to  y*  order  of  the  Gospell ;  oncly  tlu-y  had  in 
some  ni'-a-suro  separated  themselves  from  the  prelatitull  superistitions, 
and  had  agreed  to  search  after  the  non-conforming  men,  such  as  in 
those  dayes  did  bearo  the  name  of  Puritanes.  But  when  it  pleased 
God  (who  had  before  appointed  that  holy  ordinance  of  the  Com- 
munion of  Suintes)  to  shew  His  nu-rcy  to  tliis  jteoplo,  Ilo  jdacod 
Mr.  John  Gilford  among  them  for  their  mini-stcr  in  Christ  Jesus, 
and  to  be  their  pastor  and  bishop,  and  the  steward  of  God  to  com- 
municuto  unto  them  the  knowledge  of  His  will  in  the  lioly  mitsteryes 
of  the  Gospell." 

This  man  who  is  thus  introduced  to  us  as  the  founder  of 
the  ]Jedford  Church,  and  who  lell  upon  it  so  powerfully  the 
impress  of  his  own  individuality,  was  as  little  likely  ai  ono 
time  to  do  this  kind  of  work  as  was  JSuul  of  Tarsus  to  become 

o 


82  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  v. 

Paul  the  Apostle.  He  was  a  Kentish  man,  and  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  Civil  War  a  Royalist  and  a  major  in  the  King's  army. 
In  1648  there  was  made  in  that  county  one  more  desperate 
struggle  to  win  back  the  country  for  the  king.  The  rising 
was  begun  by  the  Kentish  people  themselves,  but  the  Earl  of 
Norwich  came  down  to  place  himself  at  their  head,  and  was 
joined  by  the  well-known  Bedfordshire  Royalist,  Lord  Cleve- 
land, of  Toddington.  Canterbury,  Dover,  Sandwich,  and  the 
castles  of  Walmer  and  Deal  had  been  already  won  back  from 
the  Parliament  when,  towards  the  end  of  May,  some  ten  or 
twelve  thousand  of  the  men  of  Kent  were  marching  for  London, 
with  drums  and  banners.  At  Rochester  they  were  met  by  the 
Parliamentary  forces  under  the  Lord  General  Fairfax ;  but  it 
was  at  Maidstone  there  came  on  the  fiercest  of  the  fight.  The 
struggle  first  began  about  a  mile  from  the  town,  at  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  forces  of  Fairfax  driving  the 
Royalists  from  thicket  and  fence,  from  hedge  to  hedge,  till  the 
town  was  reached.  There,  too,  the  battle  was  waged  as  hotly 
as  ever.  Street  by  street,  turning  by  turning,  house  by  house, 
Maidstone  was  fought  for  to  the  death.  That  Thursday  night 
was  long  remembered  as  one  of  the  most  awful  times  in  the 
whole  history  of  the  war.  All  the  time  the  fight  was  raging  the 
rain  came  down  in  torrents  while  eight  pieces  of  cannon,  ming- 
ling with  the  storm,  were  fired  at  close  range  upon  the  mass  of 
struggling  men  fighting  with  each  other,  in  the  streets,  for  life 
and  death.  It  was  not  till  between  twelve  and  one  o'clock  in 
the  morning  that  victory  declared  for  Fairfax,  the  insurgents 
leaving  300  of  their  number  dead  in  the  streets.  In  addition 
to  these,  1,400  Royalists  surrendered  as  prisoners,  some  of  them 
being  taken  in  the  early  morning  as  they  were  hiding  in  the 
woods,  hop-gardens,  and  fields  round  the  town.  Among  these 
prisoners  was  John  Gifibrd.  From  the  leading  part  he  had 
taken  and  the  resolute  spirit  he  had  shown  he  was  marked  out 
for  signal  punishment,  for  while  the  great  body  of  the  prisoners 
were  afterwards  released  this  man  and  eleven  others  were 
adjudged  to  the  gallows.* 

*  Letter  from  Lord  General  Fairfax  to  Speaker  Lenthall,  dated  Rochester,  June 
6th,  1648.     Newesfrom  Bowe,  Rochester,  June  4th,  1648.     Narrative  of  the  Great 
Victm-y  in  Kent.    London  :  Rohert  Ibbitson  in  ymithfield,  1648.     Bloody  Neices 
from  Kent,  June,  1618.     King's  Pamphlets,  British  Museum. 


16^9.]  THE  CHURCH  at  Bedford.  83 

"But,"  continues  tlie  Church  record,  "y"  ni-j^ht  before  he  was  to 
dye,  his  sister  coming  to  visit  him  and  fiuiling  the  sentiuells  that 
kejtt  the  doore  asleep,  and  those  also  his  companions  within  heavy 
thi-ough  driuke,  she  told  hira  of  the  doore  and  tlio  watcli  tliat  stood 
before  it,  and  iutreated  him  to  take  the  opportunity  to  escape  and 
save  his  life,  which  also  he  did  and  passed  through  tliem  all,  tliere 
being,  as  it  were,  a  deep  sleep  from  the  Lord  upon  them,  and  made 
his  escape  into  y*  field,  and,  creeping  into  the  bottom  of  a  ditch, 
lay  there  about  three  dayes,  till  the  great  search  for  liim  was  over, 
and  then  by  tlio  help  of  his  friends  he  came  disguised  to  London, 
where  he  abode  not  long,  but  was  couvayed  downe  into  this  country, 
where  he  also  lay  hid  from  his  enemyes  in  y*  houses  of  certaine 
great  persons  who  were  of  like  mind  with  himself.     And  after  a 
wliile  he  came  to  Bedford  and  there,  being  utterly  a  stranger,  he 
prijfesscd  and  practised  physicke,   but  abode  still  very  vile  and 
debauched  in  life,  being  a  great  drinker,  gamester,  swearer,  &c. 
But  in  his  gaming,  so  it  was  that  he  usually  came  oflF  by  the  losse, 
which  woidd  sometimes  put  him  into  some  dumpish  and  discun- 
tentf'd  fitts  and  resolutions  to  leave  y*  practise  :  but  these  resolutions 
were  but  like  the  chaines  on  tlie  man  mentioned  in  the  Gospell 
which  would  not  hold  when  the  lit  to  be  vile  was  upon  him,  where- 
fore he  went  on  and  broke  them  stQl.     But  one  night  having  lost, 
as  I  take  it,  about  1  o^i-,  it  put  him  into  a  rage  and  he  thought  many 
desperate  thoughts  a'^ainst  God.     But  while  he  was  looking  into 
one  of  Mr.  Bolton's  bookes  sometliing  therein  took  hold  upon  him 
and  brought  him  into  a  great  sense  of  sin,  wherein  In-  continueil 
for  y*  space  of  a  moneth  or  above.     But  at  last  God  did  so  plenti- 
fully discover  to  him  by  His  word  the  forgiveness  of  liis  sins  for  the 
sake  of  Christ,  tliat  (as  he  hath  by  severall  of  the  brethren  bene 
heard  to  say)  all  his  life  after,  whieli  was  about  y'  space  of  five 
yeares,  lie  lost  not  the  liglit  of  God's  countenance — n(j,  not  for  an 
houro,  Have  only  about  two  dayes  before  he  dyed." 

This  man,  thus  brought  through  strange  expiriencos,  no 
sooner  found  tlie  new  life  stirring  within  liini  than  ho  sought 
the  companionship  (jf  those  who  were  in  Christ  before  him.  But, 
as  iu  the  case  of  the  convert  more  illustrious  than  he,  tlio 
brethren  were  afraid  of  him  and  "would  not  at  first  believe 
that  he  WUM  u  disciple."  Yet,  "being  nulurally  Itold,"  ht! 
minded  not  their  hhyncss  but  "  wouhl  incjuire  after  their  meet- 
iiigH,  and  would  thrust  himself  againo  and  agaiue  into  tiieir 
company   both    together   and  ap;irt."     .Still    they  held    them- 


84  JOHN  BUNT  AN.  [chap.  v. 

selves  aloof;  they  were  doubtful  of  a  convert  who  "had  indeed 
been  a  very  vile  man,  who  had  done  wild  things  in  the  town 
of  public  notoriety,  and  who  often  had  thought  to  kill  bro : 
Harrington,  meerly  from  that  great  antipathy  that  was  in  his 
heart  against  the  jjeople  of  God  and  the  holynes  of  the  Gospell." 

"  But  so  it  was  that  in  little  time  he  was  much  in  his  heart  put 
upon  it  to  preach,  but  yet  would  not  without  he  advised  lirst  with 
the  godly ;  but  they  being  at  a  stand  in  the  case  he  first  offered  his 
gift  before  them  in  private,  and  afterwards  in  an  open  way  before 
the  world ;  whose  word  God  so  blessed  that  even  at  the  first  he  was 
made  through  grace  a  father  to  some  through  the  Gospell,  ffor 
instance,  sister  Cooper,  a  woman  whose  memory  is  yet  precious 
among  us,  was  converted  by  the  first  sermon  he  preached  in 
publicke. 

"Now,  having  continued  preaching  awhile  and  receiving  some 
light  in  the  Congregationall  way,  after  some  acquaintance  also  with 
other  ministers,  he  attempted  to  gather  into  Gospell  fellowship  the 
saintes  and  brethren  in  and  about  the  towne  ;  but  the  more  antient 
professors  being  used  to  live,  as  some  other  good  men  of  those 
times,  without  regard  to  such  separate  and  close  communion,  were 
not  at  first  so  ready  to  fall  into  that  godly  order. 

"Wherefore  many  dayes  were  by  him  and  them  set  apart  for 
prayer  to  seeke  of  God  light  and  counsaile  therein  ;  they  also  con- 
ferred with  members  of  other  societyes ;  and  at  last  by  the  mercy 
and  goodness  of  God  they  began  to  come  to  some  blessed  resolution 
therein.  And  first  they  consulted  after  they  had  determined  to 
walke  together  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Gospell,  and  so  to  build  an 
house  for  the  name  of  our  God,  who  were  most  expedient  to  begin 
to  be  laide  in  this  building  as  foundation  stones.  And  at  length 
twelve  of  the  holy  brethren  and  sisters  began  this  holy  worke,  viz. : 
Mr.  John  Grew  and  his  wife,  Mr.  John  Eston,  the  elder,  Anthony 
Harrington  and  his  wife,  Mr.  John  Giff'ord,  sister  Coventon,  sister 
Bosworth,  sister  Munnes,  sister  fi'enne,  and  sister  Norton,  and 
sister  Spencer ;  all  antient  and  grave  Christians  well  knowne  one  to 
another,  sister  Norton  being  the  youngest. 

•' '  The  manner  of  their  putting  themselves  into  the  state  of  a 
Church  of  Christ  was :  After  much  prayer  and  waiting  upon  God 
and  consulting  one  with  another  by  the  word,  they,  upon  the  day 
appointed  for  this  solemne  worke,  being  met  after  prayer  and  seek- 
ing God  as  before  with  one  consent  they  joyntly  first  gave  them- 
selves to  the  Lord  and  one  to  another  by  the  will  of  God. 

"  This  done,  they  with  one  mouth  made  choyce  of  brother  Giff'ord 


iGJO.j  THE  CUURCU  AT  BEDFOIiD.  85 

to  be  their  pastor,  or  Elder,  to  minister  to  them  the  tilings  of 
the  kingdome  of  Christ,  to  whom  they  had  given  themselves 
before ;  wherefore  brother  Gifford  accepted  of  the  ihiirge  and 
gave  him  self  e  up  to  the  Lord  and  to  Ilis  people,  to  walko  with 
them,  watch  over  them,  and  dispense  the  misteryes  of  the  Gospell 
among  them  under  that  consideration  by  which  he  was  chost-n  of 
them. 

"  Now  the  pii  iciple  upon  whicli  they  thus  entered  into  fellow- 
ship one  with  another,  and  upon  which  the}-  did  afterwards  receive 
those  that  were  added  to  their  body  and  fellowship,  was  ffaith  in 
Christ  and  Holiness  of  life,  without  respect  to  this  or  that  circum- 
stance or  opinion  in  outward  and  circumstantiall  things.  By  which 
meanes  grace  and  faith  was  incouraged,  Love  and  Amity  maintained, 
disjiutings  and  occasion  to  janglings  and  tmprofitable  questions 
avoydcd,  and  many  that  were  weake  in  the  faith  conlirmed  in  tlio 
blessing  of  eternall  life." 

The  Bedford  Church  thus  founded  upon  this  large  and 
catholic  basis  was  apostolic  in  numbers  as  well  as  in  simplicity 
of  spirit,  consisting  at  first  of  twelve  believing  souls.  AVe 
have  already  met  with  some  of  them  ;  for  among  these  twelve 
were  the  three  or  four  poor  women  whose  talk  at  some  door 
in  a  Bedford  street  made  a  new  era  in  the  life  of  the  listeninsr 
tinker  from  Klstow.  The  brethren  who  were  among  the 
"  foundation  stones  "  of  this  new  spiritual  house  were  men  of 
character  and  influence.  Gifford,  formerly  a  major,  was  now 
practising  as  a  physician  in  the  town,  for  which  he  may  have 
been  prepared  before  the  wars  came  on.  That  there  was  room  j  ust 
then  for  u  newmedical  practitioner  in  liedford  there  is  the  follow- 
ing entry  in  the  corporation  records  to  show :  "  Ilequest  was 
made  by  Mr,  Dr.  Banister,  ])r.  of  Physic,  to  the  Council,  for  an 
Act  of  Ease  to  be  jiassed  for  him  in  regard  of  his  great  age  and 
debilitie  of  bodie."  The  recjuest  was  granted,  and  the  doctor 
freed  from  all  liability  to  public  ofiice  or  appearance  "  at  anie 
Councell  Court  (jr  other  Assemblie  of  this  town."  Tiiere  waij, 
therefore,  clearly  room  for  a  successor  in  the  healing  art,  and, 
qualified  or  unqualified,  John  Oill'ord  took  the  place.  Then  next 
we  come  upon  the  name  of  "that  reverend  man,  John  Grew."  lit 
had  been  mayor  of  the  town  in  KJIO  ;  he  was  again  mayor  in 
I '>■"*'» ;  he  was  one  of  the  churchwardenH  of  St.  Paul's  Cliiircli 
in  Hi.''.';  ;  his  name  appears  in   tlic  list  of  Justices  of  the  I'cace 


86  JOUN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  v. 

for  Mictaelmas  term  1650  ;  and  by  an  order  of  the  Council  of 
State  of  December  2nd  of  the  same  year  he  was  made  one  of 
the  Commissioners  of  Militia  for  the  county  of  Bedford.  In 
his  will,  executed  in  1661,  he  is  described  as  a  gentleman,  and 
he  appoints  as  his  executors  his  "  beloved  friends  Wm.  Whit- 
bread,  of  Cardington,  Esq.,  and  John  Whitman,  of  the  same 
place,  yeoman."  Anthony  Harrington  again,  though  only  a 
tradesman  of  the  town,  a  cooper,  seems  to  have  been  a  man  in 
fair  position  and  repute,  as  we  judge  from  the  fact  that  he  was 
one  of  the  Common  Councilmen  in  1659  ;  and  his  prominent 
standing  among  the  Christian  men  of  the  town  had  singled 
him  out  for  the  especial  hatred  of  John  Gifford  in  the  old  bad 
days  of  his  ungodly  life.  In  the  after  days  of  persecution  of 
1669,  when  the  flame  waxed  fiercest,  Harrington  in  his  old 
age  was  forced  to  flee  from  his  home  to  a  place  of  hiding. 
Thither  a  letter  was  addressed  to  him  by  the  Church,  in  which 
they  speak  to  him  in  much  aflection  and  say  :  "  We  are  com- 
forted in  the  remembrance  of  thee,  brother,  while  we  consider 
that  notwithstanding  thy  naturall  infirmity  yet  thou  prizest 
good  conscience  above  thine  own  enjoyments ;  and  since  thou 
couldest  not  with  quiet  injoy  it  at  home  thou  hast  left  thy 
concerns  in  this  world  (though  in  much  hazzard  and  danger) 
that  thou  may  est  keep  it  abroad." 

But  of  the  first  members  of  the  Church  perhaps  John  Eston 
was  locally  the  most  eminent.  He  was  an  elderly  man  in  1650, 
when  the  Church  was  formed  ;  for,  as  the  register  of  St.  Paul's 
shows,  he  had  a  son  born  to  him  in  1611,  and  his  wife,  Susanna 
Eston,  had  died,  leaving  him  a  widower  in  1640.  He  was  one 
of  the  Estons  of  Holme,  in  Bedfordshire,  and  his  grandfather 
appears  in  the  Visitation  of  the  county  in  1566.  He  himself 
was  thrice  mayor  of  Bedford,  being  mayor  the  year  the  Church 
was  formed  ;  he  was  also  in  the  commission  of  the  peace.  His 
eon  after  him  was  high  sheriff  of  the  county  and  a  justice  of 
the  peace,  both  for  the  county  and  borough.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered, also,  that  John  Eston  was  one  of  the  churchwardens  of 
St.  Paul's  in  1629,  and  again  in  1639,  the  latter  being  the 
year  in  which  Laud's  agent  in  Bedford,  Walter  Walker,  was 
compelling  John  Bradshaw,  the  vicar,  and  the  parishioners  of 
St.  Paul's  to  erect  altar-rails  and  to  celebrate  the  communion 


1  no  1 .  ]  TJTE  CIIUR  Cn  AT  BED  FOB  I).  87 

knceling,  a  mode  wliich  they  regarded  as  superstitious  and 
papistical. 

Two  of  these  early  nieinbcrs  of  the  Bedford  Church  seem  to 
iave  striven  for  that  Puritan  simplicity  in  the  council  chamber 
(f  the  town,  which  they  preferred  in  their  religion,  as  the 
f)llowing  entry  in  the  corporation  records  remains  to  show  : — 
"At  a  common  council  held  in  the  Guildhall  Chamber  by 
Itobert  Bell,  mayor,  on  Monday,  the  15th  day  of  ^larch,  1651, 
Mr.  Francis  Banister,  Doctor  of  Physic,  Mr.  John  Eston  the 
dder,  Mr.  John  Grew,  and  Mr.  John  Hancock,  Aldermen, 
appeared  at  this  Councill  without  their  Gownes,  contrary  to 
tlie  ordinance  made  in  that  behalf,  wherefore  each  of  them 
kath  forfeited,  according  to  that  ordinance,  two  shillings." 
The  following  Monday  Banister  and  Eston  again  appeared 
without  their  gowns,  and  in  September  it  is  noted  that  Alder- 
men Eston  and  Grew  repeated  the  offence.  Their  persistence 
was  successful  in  the  end,  and  in  1652  it  was  "  ordained  that 
an  Act  of  the  IGth  August,  1650,  enjoining  appearance  at  the 
town  assemblies  in  a  certain  garb  shall  (as  touching  appearance 
in  gownes  at  the  Common  Council)  be  henceforth  voyd,  and  all 
forfeitures  in  that  respect  be  discharged."  * 

These  particular^  trifling  enough  in  themselves,  have  yet  a 
sort  of  interest  for  us  as  descriptive  of  the  men  with  whom 
Bunyan  came  into  closest  relations  of  brotherhood  in  the 
Christian  Church  at  a  formative  period  of  his  life.  The  records 
of  this  Church  were  not  formally  kept  till  1656,  or  six  years 
after  its  formation.  We  have  no  means  now  of  knowing 
where  was  their  place  of  meeting  during  the  first  three  years 
of  their  church-life.  It  appears,  however,  from  the  town 
records  and  the  register  of  St.  John's  church  that  in  1()53  the 
little  community,  while  continuing  in  all  other  respects  to 
conduct  its  affairs  on  Congregational  principles,  became  part  of 
the  State  Church  of  the  Commonwealth.  The  fact  is  interest- 
ing as  an  illustration  of  the  comprehensive  character  of  the 
Cromwcllian  settlement  of  religion  ;  and  it  came  about  in  llic 
following  wav. 

in  12>SU  one  llobert  Paryw,  or  Dt;  J'arys,  founded  on  the 
south  hide  of  the  town  of  Bedford  what  was  caUed  the  llosjiifal 

•   }ftnutci  of  licdford  Corporation. 


88  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  v. 

of  St.  Jolin  the  Baptist.  It  was  provided  by  the  foundation 
that  one  master  and  one  chaplain  should  "  pray  for  the  souls 
of  the  said  Robert  and  Henry  Saynt  John  and  John  his  son,  his 
nephews,  and  of  all  those  who  should  give  lands  for  the  Hos- 
pitall,"  and  that  relief  should  be  given  to  "such  poor  folk  as 
chance  to  be  dwellers  in  the  town  of  Bedford."  Even  before 
the  Reformation  the  church  of  the  hospital  had  become  thp 
church  of  the  parish,  and  the  master  its  rector,  the  parisk 
being  but  small,  and  containing,  in  1546,  no  more  than  "  Sf 
houselinge  people."  At  what  time  the  right  of  presental- 
tion  to  the  living  was  vested  in  the  mayor  and  corporation  of 
the  town  is  uncertain  ;  but  it  had  been  in  their  hands  foi 
centuries  when,  in  1653,  Theodore  Crowley,  the  then  mastei 
and  rector,  for  some  cause  unknown  to  us,  was  sequestered^ 
It  so  happened  that  at  that  time  Puritan  and  Parliamentarian! 
influence  was  predominant  in  the  council,  and  the  corporation 
presented  John  GifFord  to  the  living,  in  the  place  of  Theodore 
Crowley. 

To  us,  whose  conception  of  a  State  Church  has  grown  up 
after  the  establishment  for  more  than  two  centuries  of  one  exclu- 
sive form  of  ecclesiastical  polity,  the  Episcopal,  it  is  strange  to 
see  a  Congregational  community  in  possession  of  the  parish 
church,  and  its  pastor  installed  there  as  rector.  This  could 
not,  of  course,  have  happened  at  any  other  time  than  between 
the  years  1653  and  1660.  During  these  seven  years  Crom- 
well's Broad  Church  was  really  broad — broader  than  anything 
ever  known  in  this  country  either  before  or  since,  for  it  recog- 
nised and  comprised  the  various  forms  of  religious  conviction 
to  be  found  in  the  nation. 

Abstractly  considered,  of  course,  there  is  no  substantial 
reason  why  only  one  form  of  Church  politj^,  and  that  confessedly 
not  the  earliest,  should  have  place  in  a  national  settlement. 
There  are  grave  objections  to  any  State  system  of  religion ; 
but  if  there  is  to  be  one  at  all,  Cromwell  certainly  hit  upon  the 
fairest  that  has  yet  been  tried.  Even  that  was  not  altogether 
fair — no  State  Church  can  keep  quite  clear  of  injustice — for 
Roman  Catholics  were  disabled  from  voting  and  disqualified 
for  election,  and  all  such  infidels  and  heretics  as  attacked  the 
Christian  faith  were  deprived  of  the  electoral  franchise.     But 


1653.]  THE  CnURCR  AT  BEDFORD.  89 

takings  into  account  simply  the  various  sections  of  Protestant 
Christians  in  the  country,  there  was  literally  no  Act  of  Uni- 
formity. The  rights  of  patrons  wore  not  to  be  interfered 
with  by  the  Commissioners.  These  remained  as  before,  and  we 
find,  for  example  in  Bedfordshire,  Thomas  Power  admitted  to 
the  vicarage  of  Southill,  upon  the  presentation  of  Thomas 
Snagg,  Esq.,  patron  ;  John  Wigfall,  and  subsequently  James 
Mabbison,  to  the  vicarage  of  Poxton,  upon  the  certificate  of 
the  patrons,  the  Master,  Fellows,  and  Scholars  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge  ;  and  John  Power,  to  the  vicarage  of  Thurleigh,  on 
the  presentation  of  the  patron,  Oliver,  Earl  of  Bolingbroke, 
just  as  in  the  old  Episcopal  days.*  A  certificate  was  required 
from  some  responsible  persons  to  whom  the  presented  minister 
was  known,  simply  testifying  that  he  was  a  worthy  man  and  a 
fit  person  to  take  the  cure  of  souls.  This  was  all.  No  articles 
of  faith  were  prescribed,  no  subscription  was  enforced,  and  no 
mention  made  by  name  either  of  Episcopacy,  Presbyterianism, 
Congregationalism,  or  of  the  question  of  baptism.  If  the 
Commissioners  conserved  the  rights  of  patrons,  they  were 
not  limited  by  any  other  statutory  conditions,  and  were 
guided  by  no  creed,  statute,  canon,  or  established  usage. 
Those  appointed  for  Bedfordshire  in  1657  were  called  the 
"  Commissioners  for  the  publique  ffaith,"  and  included  the 
two  leading  members  of  the  Bedford  Church.  The  entire 
list  for  the  county  was  as  follows :  John  ITervy,  John 
Cockayne  of  Cardington;  Richard  "Wagstaffe  of  Ravensden ; 
Samuel  Bedford  of  Ilenlow ;  Edward  Cater  of  Kempston ; 
and  John  Grew  and  John  Eston,  described  as  aldermen  of  Bed- 
ford. It  may  be  noted  by  the  way  that  the  day  when  they 
were  appointed  by  the  council  of  the  Commonwealth  was  the 
day  also  when  Ricluird  Cromwell  emerged  into  public  life.  At 
the  same  meeting  at  Whitehall,  "  the  Lord  IMesidont  reports 
his  Highness*  consent  to  the  (Jrder  that  Lord  Richard  Crom- 
well be  one  of  his  Highness'  Counsell.  Ordered  that  a  Letter 
bo  written  to  y*  Lord  liichard  Cromwell  to  attend  his  High- 
ness and  y*  Counsell  in  order  thereunto."  t 

Taking  the  country  through,  the  commission  for  the  different 

•  I^mbelh  MSS. — AugmontiitionM,  1G.')7,  ICjS. 

f  .V.  /'.  lutnrnjnum  ;  Council  Hook,  i.,  7h,  ThurBdiiy,  DccemlxT  10th,  IC)?. 


90  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  v. 

counties  was  variously  composed.  Upon  it  were  Presbyterians, 
Independents,  and  Baptists.  Access  to  benefices,  therefore, 
was  permitted  to  ministers  of  all  three  denominations.  Epis- 
copalians, also,  were  eligible,  provided  they  would  consent  not 
to  use  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact 
many  of  them  were  admitted. 

Cromwell's  Establishment,  therefore,  recognised  no  one  form 
of  ecclesiastical  organization  ;  it  had  no  Church  courts,  no 
Church  assemblies,  no  Church  laws,  no  Church  ordinances. 
Nothing  was  said  about  rites  and  ceremonies,  nothing  even 
about  sacraments.  The  mode  of  administering  the  Lord's  Supper 
and  Baptism  was  left  an  open  question  to  be  determined  by 
each  congregation  for  itself.  All  that  the  Commissioners 
dealt  with  was  the  personal  piety  and  intellectual  fitness  of  the 
man  presented  to  the  living.  If,  in  these  respects,  he  were 
shown  to  be  worthy  he  was  at  once  installed.  The  church 
buildings  were  regarded  as  the  property  of  the  parish,  and  in 
one  there  was  to  be  found  a  Presbyterian  community,  In 
another  an  Independent,  and  in  a  third  a  Baptist  church.  So 
complete  was  the  freedom  accorded  that  we  find  such  an  Order 
in  Council  as  this :  "  On  petition  of  several  inhabitants  of 
Abbot's  Leigh  parish,  co.  Hunts  :  That  any  godly  persons  whom 
the  inhabitants  may  procure,  have  liberty  to  preach  in  the 
public  meeting-place  of  the  town  on  week-days,  whereunto 
they  may  be  summoned  by  a  bell,  and  the  incumbent  and 
others  concerned  are  not  to  interfere."*  If  there  were  churches 
that  preferred  to  worship  outside  the  national  system  altogether 
they  were  at  liberty  to  do  so.  The  Articles  of  Government 
declare  that  such  persons  "  shall  not  be  restrained,  but  shall 
be  protected  in  the  profession  of  the  faith  and  exercise  of  their 
religion,  so  as  they  abuse  not  their  liberty  to  the  civil  injury 
of  others,  and  to  the  actual  disturbance  of  the  public  peace  on 
their  part."  This  liberty,  however,  was  "  not  to  extend  to 
Popery  or  Prelacy,  nor  to  such  as,  under  the  profession  of 
Christ,  held  forth  and  practised  licentiousness."  f 

Under   this   elastic   system  of  church-life,  introduced   into 
England  in  1653,  there  was,  of  course,  nothing  to  prevent  the 

*  *S.  p.  Dom.  Inierreg.  ;  1657,  vol.  clvii.,  155,  7. 
t  Articles  xxxvi.,  xxxvii, ;  Farl.  Hist.,  iii.,  1425. 


1653.] 


THE  CnURCn  AT  BEDFORD. 


91 


Bedford  corporation  from  presenting,  or  the  local  Commissioners 
from  admitting,  John  Gift'ord  to  the  mastership  and  rectory  of 
the  hospital  and  church  of  St.  John.  For,  though  he  had  not 
before  been  a  parish  minister,  he  was  the  recognised  pastor  of 
the  Church  formed  under  his  care  ;  his  blameless  life  during 
the  past  three  years  had  secured  for  him  the  name  of  "  holy 
Mr.  Gillord  ;  "  and  the  consciences  of  his  hearers  had  testified 


^^£:^^-^,. 


St.  Joh.n's  Chi'mch,  ISkdfoud. 


to  the  reality  of  his  call  as  a  teacher  of  tlic  trulli  of  God.  Vvc- 
M?ntcd  he  was,  therefore,  and  in  tlic  summer  of  l(i">''{  lie  took 
possession  of  the  ancient  hall  of  the  rectory  ;  and  his  people  of 
the  parish  church  of  St.  John  llic  IJaptist  close  by. 

This  church  has  not  greatly  clianged  since  those  days ;  but, 
judging  from  Speed's  sketch  ma])  of  1010,  the  hospital  build- 
ing has  changed  considerably  from  its  former  self.     Standing 


92  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  v. 

to  the  nortli  of  the  churchyard  it  had  a  lofty  and  imposing 
gateway  to  the  street,  the  building  itself  retreating  somewhat, 
and  extending  farther  into  the  grounds  on  the  east  than  the 
present  rectory  does.  The  kitchen  buildings  close  to  the  street 
on  the  west,  and  the  drawing-room  and  library  on  the  east,  are 
modern  erections ;  but  the  old  hall  and  dining-room,  midway 
between,  and  with  windows  looking  out  upon  the  churchyard 
to  the  south,  are  part  of  the  original  hospital.  The  dining- 
room,  which  was  the  ancient  refectory,  was  entered  from  the 
south,  and  as  late  as  1760,  when  Cole,  the  antiquary,  saw  it, 
was  connected  with  the  church  by  a  cloister  running  under  its 
north  wall  to  the  chancel  door.*  This  room,  with  its  oaken 
beam.s,  is  interesting,  not  merely  as  being  a  portion  of  perhaps 
the  oldest  dwelling-house  in  the  town,  and  as  the  living-room  of 
the  master  and  his  co-brethren  of  the  hospital  for  centuries, 
but  also  as  the  place  where  Bunyan  and  Gifford  were  often  in 
conference  together,  as  the  seeking  Pilgrim  and  the  guiding 
Evangelist  of  the  time. 

The  year  that  Gifford  entered  into  residence  at  St.  John's  was 
the  year  that  Bunyan  joined  the  Church.  The  Record  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Church  was  not  commenced  till  1656,  or  three  years 
later ;  but  the  Boll  of  members  was  kept  from  the  foundation  of 
the  Church  in  1650,  and  Bunyan's  name  appears  as  the  nine- 
teenth on  the  list,  the  names  next  to  his  being  those  of  William 
Whitbread  of  Cardington,  and  Lettice  his  wife,  from  whom 
has  descended  the  present  Samuel  Whitbread,  Esq.,  of  Southill, 
M.P.  for  Bedford. 

Gilford  was  Bunyan's  guide  and  helper  only  for  two 
years  after  this,  for  he  died  in  the  early  part  of  September, 
1655.  But  little  is  known  of  him  bej^ond  the  facts  already 
given.  He  came  to  Bedford,  as  we  have  seen,  a  lonely  fugitive 
in  the  summer  of  1648,  and  afterwards  married  there,  gathering 
his  family  about  him.  In  the  register  of  St.  Paul's  church 
there  is  the  record  of  a  burial  on  the  30th  of  June,  1651,  of  John, 
son  of  John  Gifibrd.  His  other  three  children  were  daughters. 
He  died  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  appears  to  have  known,  some 
weeks  before,  that  he  was  fatally  stricken  ;  for  under  exceptional 
circumstances  he  made  a  will  on  the  2nd  of  August,  1655,  which 

*  Cole's  MSS.,  5832,  f.  85. 


1655.]  THE  CnURCn  AT  BEDFORD.  93 

is  still  in  existence  in  the  District  Registry.  By  this  will  he 
constitutes  his  "  loving  wife "  sole  executrix,  leaving  to  his 
eldest  daughter,  Mary,  £55,  payable  on  the  day  of  her  marriage 
or  on  her  attaining  the  age  of  twenty-one  ;  to  his  daughter 
Elizabeth,  £50  ;  and  also  to  a  child  yet  unborn  the  sum  of 
£bO.  This  child,  born  early  the  following  year,  was  named 
Martha,  and  was  married  in  1675  to  "William  llawkes,  who  was 
a  deacon  of  the  church  during  Bunyan's  pastorate,  was  one  of 
the  four  witnesses  who  attested  Bunyan's  will,  and  was  the 
person  who  entered  in  the  church  book  the  sorrowful  record  of 
Bunyan's  death.  Gifford's  second  daughter,  Elizabeth,  as  we 
hud  from  the  register,  was  buried  in  St.  Paul's  churchyard  on 
the  4th  of  September,  1665.  His  eldest  daughter,  Mary,  was 
married  to  a  person  of  the  name  of  Negus,  and  was  in  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  church  in  16U6,  her  son,  Gittbrd  Negus,  being  a 
tradesman  of  the  town  in  1730.  The  only  other  references  we 
possess  to  John  Gilford  himself  are  in  the  "  Book  of  Fines  and 
Agreements  of  the  Court  of  Pleas"  belonging  to  the  Corporation, 
one  of  which  sets  forth  that,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1654,  one 
messuage  with  appurtenances  in  the  town  of  Bedford  was  sold 
by  Robert  Risely  to  John  Gitford,  gentleman,  on  the  payment 
of  a  fine  of  £10  sterling.  His  death  the  following  year  brought 
changes,  and  on  the  24th  of  September,  1656,  Margaret  Giilord, 
widow,  came  to  the  same  Court  of  I'leas,  "craving  the  enroll- 
ment of  a  fine  of  £10  between  Thos.  Gibbs,  gentleman,  and  her 
the  said  Margaret,  touching  one  messuage  with  appurtenances 
in  the  parish  of  St.  PauU." 

John  Gifford  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  Bedford  not  quite 
five  years,  yet  he  left  his  mark  broad  and  deep,  and  his  work 
remains.  He  was  a  man  of  suHicient  force  of  character  to  be 
capable  of  impressing  powerfully  men  who  were  themselves  of 
strong  individuality.  The  "great  extravagancy  of  mindo 
and  wildenes  (jf  heart,"  said  to  have  been  in  his  nature  when 
he  was  the  Royalist  Saul,  were  turned  into  clui.Htened  fervour 
and  force  when  he  became  the  Puritan  J'aul,  Punyan  tells  uh 
how  real  tlie  man  was,  and  how  real  he  himtself  felt  his  teaehing 
to  bo.  Others,  too,  who  came  under  his  influence,  showed  in 
the  deepest  experience  of  their  lives  Ijow  vital  that  influenco 
WU8.     The  three  or  four  poor  women  who  looked  up  to  hiui  us 


94  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  v. 

their  pastor,  and  wlioni  Bunyan  heard  talking  together  of  the 
things  of  God,  were  evidently  well-instructed  in  the  lore  of 
the  kingdom.  The  roots  of  their  spiritual  life  went  down 
deep  into  the  eternal  verities,  and  its  boughs  and  branches  shot 
up  high  into  the  sunlight  of  heaven.  "  They  spake  as  if  Joy 
did  make  them  speak  :  they  spake  with  such  pleasantness  of 
Scripture  Language  and  with  such  appearance  of  grace  in  all 
they  said,  that  they  were  to  me  as  if  they  had  found  a  new 
World."  Gifford,  therefore,  could  say  with  Paul,  "Need  we 
epistles  of  commendation  ?  Ye  are  our  epistle  written  in  our 
hearts,  known  and  read  of  all  men."  Bunyan,  drawn  by  them 
under  the  same  influence,  bore  testimony  in  his  turn  to  the 
soul-subduing  power  of  this  converted  Royalist  major.  "  These 
people,"  says  he,  "  told  Mr,  Gifford  of  me,  who  himself  also 
took  occasion  to  talk  with  me,  and  was  willing  to  be  well-per- 
suaded of  me,  though  I  think  but  from  little  grounds."  Evan- 
gelist was  clearly  a  man  of  insight.  "  He  invited  me  to  his 
House,  where  I  should  hear  him  confer  with  others  about  the 
dealings  of  God  with  their  Souls,  from  all  which  I  received  more 
conviction."  Farther  on  also  in  that  stern  story  of  spiritual 
conflict  told  in  the  "  Grace  Abounding,"  he  says,  "  At  this 
time  I  sat  under  the  ministry  of  holy  Mr.  Gifford,  whose  Doc- 
trine, by  God's  Grace,  was  much  for  my  stability.  This  man 
made  it  much  his  business  to  deliver  the  People  of  God  from 
all  those  false  and  unsound  rests  that,  by  nature,  we  are  prone 
to  take  and  make  to  our  souls.  He  would  bid  us  take  special 
heed  that  we  took  not  up  any  truth  upon  trust,  as  from  this  or 
that,  or  any  other  man  or  men,  but  to  cry  mightily  to  God 
that  He  would  convince  us  of  the  reality  thereof  and  set  us 
down  therein,  by  His  own  Spirit,  in  the  Holy  Word." 

Gifford  left  no  writings  behind  him  save  one  solitary  letter 
written  from  his  death-bed,  a  letter  which  Southey  has  described 
as  "wise,  tolerant,  and  truly  Christian,"  and  which  was  addressed, 
"  To  the  Church  over  which  God  made  me  an  Overseer  when  I 
was  in  the  world."  In  the  opening  sentence,  "  I  beseech  you," 
he  says,  "  brethren  beloved,  let  these  words  (wrote  in  my  love 
to  you  and  care  over  you,  when  our  heavenly  Father  was  remov- 
ing me  to  the  Kingdom  of  his  dear  Son)  be  read  in  your  church- 
gatherings  together."     In   this  letter,  which  is  still  read  once 


IGoo.J  THE  CHURCH  AT  BEDFORD.  95 

a  year  at  the  meetings  of  the  Bedford  Church,  Giffurd  urges 
them  affectionately  to  walk  together  in  all  love  and  in  the 
ordinances  of  Jesus  Christ  their  Lord,  and  to  keep  together 
when  he  their  pastor  shall  be  no  more  with  them,  for  they  "were 
not  joined  to  the  ministry  but  to  Christ  and  the  Church."  He 
would  have  them  refrain  from  divisions  about  minor  things 
and  keep  to  central  verities:  "  Concerning  separation  from  the 
Church  about  baptism,  laying  on  of  hands,  anointing  with  oil, 
psalms,  or  any  externals,  I  charge  every  one  of  you  respec- 
tively, as  you  will  give  an  account  of  it  to  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  shall  judge  both  quick  and  dead  at  his  coming,  that 
none  of  you  be  found  guilty  of  this  great  evil."  Worldly  distinc- 
tions should  have  no  place  in  the  Church  of  God  : — '•  Let  no 
respect  of  persons  be  in  your  comings-together.  When  you  are 
met  as  a  Church  there's  neither  rich  nor  poor,  bond  nor  free,  in 
Christ  Jesus.  'Tis  not  a  good  practice  to  be  offering  places  or 
seats  when  those  who  are  rich  come  in  ;  especially  it  is  a  great 
evil  to  take  notice  of  such  in  time  of  prayer,  or  the  word  ;  then 
are  bowings  and  civil  observances  at  such  times  not  of  God." 
He  urges  those  who  are  most  eminent  in  profession  to  let  their 
faith,  love,  and  zeal  be  very  eminent ;  he  that  casts  a  dim  light 
harms  the  Church.  "  Let  there,"  says  he,  *'be  kept  up  among 
you  solemn  days  of  prayer  and  thanksgiving,  and  let  some  time 
be  set  apart  to  seuk  God  for  your  seeds."  Charging  them  to 
be  careful  and  prayerful  in  the  choice  of  his  successor,  to  be  all 
of  one  mind,  and  walk  in  love  one  to  another  even  as  Christ 
Jesus  hath  loved  them,  he  commends  them  to  the  peace  of  God, 
charging  them  to  "  Stand  fast ;  the  Lord  is  at  hand." 

After  signing  this  letter  in  the  presence  of  two  of  the 
brethren,  Gifford  went  home  to  be  with  God.  No  stone  marks 
the  spot  where  he  was  buried  in  the  churchyard  of  St. 
John's,  but  there  his  dust  lies — mingling  witli  that  of  the  long 
line  of  masters  and  rectors,  of  bcih.smen  and  brethren,  stretch- 
ing througli  more  than  six  hundred  years,  and  of  whom  he 
was  one. 


VI. 

PIVE  YEAES  OF  BEDFOED  LIFE :  1655—1660. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  Bunyan  was  formally  re- 
ceived to  the  Church  at  Bedford,  in  1653,  at  which  time  he  was 
still  living  on  at  Elstow.  In  his  account  of  himself  he  is  pro- 
vokingly  reticent  in  the  matter  of  dates,  but  it  was  probably 
in  1651  or  1652,  that  he  began  to  come  into  Bedford  to  listen 
to  the  preaching  of  John  Gifford.  His  doing  so  created  an 
unusual  stir  among  his  neighbours,  and  brought  unexpected 
fame  to  the  preacher.  That  a  "town-sinner"  so  notorious 
should  become  so  changed,  brought  over  the  people  of  Elstow 
to  hear  for  themselves.  "  When  I  went  out,"  says  he,  "  to 
seek  the  Bread  of  Life,  some  of  them  would  follow  me  and  the 
rest  be  put  into  a  muse  at  home.  Yea,  almost  all  the  town  at 
first  at  times  would  go  out  to  hear  at  the  place  where  I  found 
good.  Yea,  young  and  old  for  a  while  had  some  reformation 
on  them ;  also,  some  of  them  perceiving  that  God  had  mercy  on 
me,  came  crying  to  Him  for  mercy  too."  So  that  Gifford  soon 
found  that  this  was  no  ordinary  convert  who  had  come  under 
his  influence. 

As  we  know  from  the  parish  register,  Bunyan  continued  to 
live  at  Elstow  for  about  two  years  after  his  reception  into  the 
Bedford  Church.  Mary,  his  blind  child,  and  Elizabeth  his 
second  daughter,  were  both  born  there,  as  these  entries  in  the 
register  show : — 

"  Mary,  the  daughter  of  John  Bonion,  was  baptized  the  20th  day 
of  July,  1650." 

"  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  John  Bonyon,  was  born  14th  day  of 
April,  1654." 

The  birthplace   of  these  two  children  was  the  little  roadside 


1655.]     FIVE  YEARS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFE:  IGoo-lGGO.      (»: 

dwelling  in  the  vlllrge  of  Elstow,  still  pointed  out  as  Banyan's 
cottagrc.  Within  living  memory  it  was  a  thatched  building 
with  a  lean-to  forge  at  the  south  end,  but  there  is  now  little 
of  the  original  structure  left  beyond  the  walls  and  the  oak 
beam  of  the  interior. 

It  was,  therefore,  after  the  birth  of  his  second  daughter,  in 
lGo4,  and  probably  in  the  year  1G55,  that  lUinyan  removed 
alto^Tcther  from  KUtow  and  went  to  live  in  Bedford.  The  town 
into  which  he  thus  removed  his  household,  the  implements  of 
his  craft,  and  his  few  simple  belongings,  was  even  then  one  of 
the  most  imcient  boroughs  in  the  kingdom.  Its  earliest  existing 
charter,  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  is  simply  confirmatory  of 
charters  earlier  still  bv  which  there  were  secured  to  its  burgesses 
the  same  custom,  law,  and  liberty  as  those  possessed  by  the 
citizens  of  Oxford.  They  were  to  be  "  quit  of  toll  and  pontage, 
of  stallage,  lastagc  and  passage,  and  of  assorts,  and  of  all  other 
customs  throughout  England  and  Normandy,  by  earth  and  by 
water,  by  sea-beach,  biland,  and  bistrand."  The  corporation  of 
the  town  consisted  of  the  customary  mayor,  aldermen,  and 
councillors,  with  recorder,  deputy-recorder,  town-clerk,  bailiffs, 
and  chamberlains,  with  minor  and  less  dignified,  but  perhaps 
not  less  necessary  officers,  in  the  shape  of  beadle,  field-drivers, 
bucket -keepers,  ale-tasters,  fish  and  flesh  searchers,  and  wood 
and  chimney  searchers. 

In  Bunyan's  time,  Bedford  consisted  of  the  same  five  parishes 
aa  at  present,  but  the  houses  were  widely  scattered.  There 
were  large  enclosures  of  field  and  orchard  witliiu  the  bcirough 
boundaries  ;  and  the  j)opulation  was  only  between  one  and  two 
thousand.  In  the  previous  century  there  were  800  "  houseling 
people"  in  the  parish  of  St.  Paul,  and  as  another  return  in 
Elizabeth's  time  btatea  the  number  of  families  in  the  whole 
town  at  I'Jl,  135  of  these  being  in  the  parish  of  St.  Taul, 
the  entire  p>pulation  would  be  then  a  little  over  a  thousand.* 
A  century  later,  according  to  the  Heartli  Tax  list  of  1073, 
there  were  44G  householders  in  the  town,  and  therefore  a  popu- 
lation u  little  over  two  thousand. t 

•   JlarUiitH  M.s^  ,  .,i^ 

t  S.  r.  .Su^ti</u«— Ilcurlh  Tim.  M  Cm.  II.  The  440  houacbolder*  were  thin 
dulributwl:    I'arijh    of   St.   J'au/,   260;    St.  C'tthb0rt,    47;    St.   J'tUr,   23 ,  St. 

H 


98  JOEN  BUNYAN:  [chap.  vi. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  general  appearance  of  the  town 
has  greatly  changed  sinceBunyan  was  a  dweller  within  its  borders. 
Till  within  quite  recent  times  some  of  the  buildings  in  the  High 
Street  were  roofed  with  thatch,  and  their  windows  sheltered  by 
primitive  shutters  which  were  lowered  downwards  upon  binges. 
Few,  indeed,  of  the  old  buildings  of  his  time  remain  to  ours. 
Some  of  the  churches  are  substantially  the  same,  thougb  en- 
larged. The  interesting  gateway  of  the  pre-Ref ormation  hostelry, 
known  as  the  Old  George,  and  portions  of  the  Franciscan 
Friary  still  linger  among  more  modern  erections.  But  the 
ancient  bridge  with  its  picturesque  gateways  and  its  prison 
chamber  midway  over  the  stream ;  the  Old  Swan  at  the  foot  of 
the  bridge;  the  Guildhall  Chamber  which,  with  the  pillory 
and  maypole,  stood  in  the  High  Street ;  the  county  gaol  at 
the  corner  of  the  Silver  Street,  so  memorable  to  Bunyan  and  to 
us  ;  the  old  buildings  with  butcher-row  and  fish-shops,  which, 
as  so  often  in  the  olden-time,  were  crowded  close  to  the  churcli- 
yard  wall  and  seemed  almost  to  hustle  the  dead  with  the  needs 
of  the  living — all  are  gone.  With  them  also  have  disappeared 
the  old  abbey  of  Caldwell,  the  leper-house  of  St.  Leonard,  the 
gateway  of  St.  John,  and  the  manor-house  in  St.  Cuthbert's. 

Bedford,  in  the  days  to  which  we  are  now  looking  back,  was 
rigidly  exclusive.  Foreigners,  by  which  were  meant  natives  of 
English  towns  elsewhere,  were  not  admitted  to  the  merchant- 
guild  ;  no  townsman  was  permitted  to  let  his  house  to  a 
foreigner  without  the  consent  of  the  mayor  ;  and  no  innholder 
or  victualler  could  receive  a  stranger  into  his  house  for  more 
than  eight  days  and  nights  without  reporting  him  to  the  mayor. 
After  ten  o'clock  at  night  till  five  next  morning  the  traffic 
over  the  bridge  was  stopped.  Indeed,  personal  safety  almost 
necessitated  the  keeping  within  doors  after  nightfall ;  for  the 
streets  were  badly  paved  where  paved  at  all ;  and  judging  by  an 
ordinance  of  1656,  they  were  even  worse  lighted  than  paved.  In 
these  days  of  gas  and  the  electric-light  there  is  a  delightful 
old-world  simplicity  about  a  minute  to  be  found  in  the  Act-Book 
of  the  Corporation,  under  date  October  10th,  1656.  By  that 
minute  it  was  "  Ordayned  :  That  on  St.  Lake's  Day  next  comyng 

Mary,  73  ;  St.  John,  47.   These  numbers  include  those  who  were  too  poor  to  pay 
chimney- money  and  were  exempted  by  legal  certificate. 


5,::  ^^SC  C  r  oo  06^  <>o.*w  M  \\  =  \*i'^5wOt3:^^t>'>;:50CJjt5<^53i^ 


Si'KBu'm  Uav  or  IiKurutu>  tN   1010. 


II 2 


100  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

until  Candlemas  following,  and  soe  yearlie  for  ever,  lights  shall 
be  sett  forth  in  the  High  Streete  of  this  town  all  along  on  both 
sides  of  the  River  of  Ouze  from  the  house  called  the  Peacock  in 
St.  Peter's  parish  to  the  Bridge  in  St.  John's  parish  on  the  way 
to  Ampthill.  And  they  shall  be  sett  up  at  the  Shutting  in  of  the 
Evening  and  be  continued  until  eight  o'clock  following.  Each 
occupier  of  Shops  and  other  Edifices  next  the  Streete  shall  each 
of  them  according  to  the  turne  of  the  side  set  out  a  Candle- 
light of  the  bigness  at  least  of  Sixteen  in  the  pound."  One 
night,  one  side  of  the  street  was  to  be  lit  up,  and  the  next,  the 
opposite ;  the  Bridge-house  and  all  public-houses  to  be  always 
lit.  Further,  "the  Bedell  of  Beggars,  for  the  time  being, 
shall  upon  St.  Luke's  day  next  comyng,  and  Every  Evening 
after  at  the  Shutting  in  of  the  Evening,  make  public  call  in  the 
Streete  for  setting  forth  of  lights ;  and  shall  give  notice  to  the 
Mayor  next  day  of  defaulters." 

Almost  from  the  time  of  his  removal  from  Elstow  to  Bedford, 
Bunyan's  life  seems  to  have  been  darkened  by  sorrow.  His 
own  health  appeared  to  be  seriously  failing.  He  says :  "  I  was 
somewhat  inclining  to  a  consumption,  wherewith  about  the 
Spring,  I  was  suddenly  and  violently  seized  with  much  weak- 
ness in  my  outward  man,  insomuch  that  I  thought  I  could  not 
live."  Elsewhere  also  he  says  :  "  I  was  at  another  time  very 
ill  and  weak,  all  that  time  also  the  Tempter  did  beset  me 
strongly,  for  I  find  he  is  much  for  assaulting  the  Soul  when  it 
begins  to  approach  towards  the  grave,  then  is  his  opportunity." 
This  sickness  did  not,  however,  prove  so  serious  as  he  feared. 
It  was  simply  weakness  of  body,  resulting  from  intense  over- 
strain of  mind  and  heart ;  and  subsequently  he  tells  us,  "  My 
sickness  did  presently  vanish,  and  I  walked  comfortably  in  my 
work  for  God  again."  But  though  these  fears  vanished,  a  dark 
shadow  came  over  his  home  and  clouded  his  heart  and  life.  He 
was  spared,  but  the  wife  of  his  youth  was  taken.  It  adds  to 
the  pathos  of  the  first  years  of  his  Bedford  life,  to  remember 
that  they  were  spent  under  the  shadow  of  this  great  bereavement, 
and  that,  while  he  was  still  battling  with  inward  conflict,  he 
had  at  the  same  time  to  be  both  father  and  mother  to  his  poor 
blind  child  and  to  the  other  three  children  whom  his  wife  had, 
in  dying,  left  to  his  care. 


1653.]    FIVE  YEARS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFE:  lOoo-lGGO.      101 

Mr.  Offor  supposes  that  by  the  time  Bunyan  .joined  the 
Church  at  Bedford,  in  1653,  he  had  risen  considerably  in  social 
position.  lie  infers  this  from  the  fact  that,  on  the  13th  of  May 
in  that  year,  an  important  document  went  up  to  Cromwell 
from  Bedfordshire,  containing,  among  other  names,  that  of  a 
John  Bunyan.  This  document  was  the  formal  return  of  two 
Members  to  Parliament  for  the  county.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  in  that  year  Cromwell  set  aside  the  ordinary  constitutional 
usage,  and  sent  to  the  godly  of  the  nation  to  return  him  a 
Parliament  on  which  he  could  rely.  The  assembly  thus  re- 
turned was  called  the  Little  Parliament,  or  the  Parliament  of 
Saints,  and  had  but  a  brief  existence.  It  was  in  response  to 
this  call  there  was  sent  the  "Letter  from  the  people  of  Bedford- 
shire to  the  Lord  General  Cromwell  and  the  Councell  of  the 
Array,"  which  came  into  the  possession  of  John  ^lilton  as  Latin 
Secretary,  and  is  preserved  among  the  Milton  Papers  be- 
longing to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.     It  is  to  this  effect : — 

"  We  (we  trust)  servants  of  Jesus  Clirist,  inhabitants  in  the  County 
of  Bedford,  haveinge  fresh  upon  our  hearts  the  sadde  oiiprcssions  we 
have  (a  louge  while)  groau'd  under  from  the  late  parlyament,  and 
now  Eyeing  and  owncing  (througli  grace)  the  good  hand  of  God  in 
this  g^eat  turne  of  Providence,  being  persuaded  that  it  is  from  the 
Lord  that  you  should  be  the  instrument  in  his  hand  at  such  a  time 
as  this,  for  the  Electing  of  such  persons  whoo  may  goe  in  and  out 
before  his  people  in  righteousness,  and  governo  these  nations  in 
judgment,  wo  haveinge  sought  the  Lord  for  you,  and  hopeing  that 
God  will  still  doe  greato  things  by  you,  understanding  that  it  is  in 
your  hearto  through  the  Lord's  a.st>i.stan(o,  to  estublisli  an  authority 
consisting  of  men  able,  loveihg  truth,  feareing  God,  and  liateing 
covetousnesB ;  and  wo  haveing  had  some  exporienco  of  men  with  us, 
we  have  judged  it  our  duty  to  God,  to  you  and  to  the  rest  of  Ids 
people,  humbly  to  present  two  men,  viz. :  Natlianiell  Taylor  and  John 
Croke,  now  Justices  of  tlio  Peace  in  our  r'oujity,  wlioni  we  jud^^t*  in 
the  Lord  quulitied  to  manage  a  trust  in  tlie  ensuing  government." 

There  were  thirty-six  names  appended  to  this  document,  one 
of  which  was  a  John  Bunyan  whom  Mr.  Offor  very  naturally 
concluded  to  be  the  writer  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."  This 
conclusion,  however,  though  natural,  was  mistaken.  In  Iti-'/l, 
it  is  scarcely  likely  that  John  Bunyan,  the  working  tinker  of 


102  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

Elstow,  would  be  asked  to  join  in  a  return  of  Members  of  Par- 
liament for  tbe  County.  He  had  only  that  year  joined  the 
Bedford  Church,  if  indeed  he  had  joined  it  so  early  as  the 
month  of  May.  He  was,  as  yet,  altogether  unknown  to  fame, 
and  was  simply  an  ordinary  labouring  man  from  a  village. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  rest  of  the  names  upon  the  document 
in  question  were  those  of  men  in  the  rank  of  magistrates, 
rectors  of  parishes,  gentlemen,  and  yeomen.  It  was  signed  by 
John  Eston,  John  Grewe,  John  Gifford,  and  Thomas  Gibbs  ; 
by  William  Dell,  the  rector  of  Yelden,  John  Donne,  the  rector 
of  Pertenhall,  William  Wheeler,  the  vicar  of  Cranfield,  and 
John  Gibbs,  the  vicar  of  Newport  Pagnel ;  the  rest  of  the  sig- 
natories, too,  so  far  as  we  know  them,  being  men  of  influence 
and  position.  It  will  be  said,  of  course,  but  there  is  the  name 
— John  Bunyan.  To  which  it  may  be  replied  :  (1)  That  there 
were  in  Bedfordshire  at  that  time  no  fewer  than  three  other 
John  Bunyans,  each  of  whom  would  be  more  likely  to  be 
asked  to  sign  the  return  than  the  tinker  of  Elstow.  One  of 
these  was  a  farmer  at  Streatley,  the  other  two,  father  and  son, 
were  yeomen  at  Cranfield,  The  Court  Book  of  the  Manor  of 
the  Earls  of  Middlesex,  who  were  Barons  of  Cranfield,  mentions 
a  Johannes  Bony  on  in  1642,  and  in  1655  and  1656,  a  John 
Bunion  the  elder,  yeoman,  holding  land  under  the  manor  in 
Cranfield  parish.*  Then  (2)  the  signature  is  altogether  unlike 
that  known  certainly  to  be  Bunyan's,  the  one  appended  to  his 
Will  and  attested  by  four  witnesses.  A  comparison  of  the 
fac-similes  will  show  that  the  signature  to  the  Cromwellian 
document  of  1653,  which  was  earlier  by  thirty-two  years  than 
the  one  appended  to  the  deed  of  1685,  is  yet  very  much  the 
more  educated  signature  of  the  two. 

It  was  shortly  after  Bunyan  came  to  reside  in  the  town  of 
Bedford  that  his  pastor  and  friend  John  Gifford  was  called 
away  by  death.  In  the  minute-book  of  the  Common  Council 
there  is  the  following  entry  under  date  September  19th,  1655  : 
"Whereas  the  Eectorie  and  Hospitall  of  St.  John  Baptist  in 
this  Town  (the  patronage  whereof  belongs  to  y^  Corporacon)  is 
fallen  void  by  the  death  of  Mr.  John  Gifford  :  It  is  agreed 
that  Mr.  Hayes,  of  Papworth,  bee  presented  thereto,  and  Mr. 

*  Addl.  MSS.,  18458,  S.  113,  114,  140,  232. 


1655-6.]    FIFF  YEARS  OF  DEDFOnn  LIFE:   lGb5-l660.    103 

Maior  is  hereby  authorized  to  set  the  Town  Seale  to  an  Instru- 
ment to  that  purpose."  To  the  Church  itself,  however,  this 
appointment  was  unwelcome,  and  was  resisted.  A  minute  of 
the  loth  October  states  that  "certaine  persons,  members  of  the 
Corporation  and  others,  to  weaken  the  presentation,  submitted 
to  His  Highness  that  it  was  surreptitiously  and  suddenly  con- 
trived and  carryed  on."  This  allegation  the  friends  of  Mr.  Hayes 
denied,  whereupon  Cromwell  determined  to  hear  both  sides  for 
himself.  The  minute  goes  on  to  say  :  "  And  whereas  also  on 
Wednesday  next  His  Highness  hath  appointed  to  heare  the  dif- 
ference of  allegation  of  both  parties,  this  Councell  doe  agree 
that  appearance  bee  made  in  defence  of  the  said  Act  and  Peti- 
tion, And  that  Mr.  John  Baxter  and  two  Aldermen  or  other 
members  of  the  Corporation  appear  as  Agents  for  y^  Corpora- 
tion." The  appeal  resulted  as  the  Church  desired,  Cromwell 
deciding  that  the  appointment  should  be  in  favour  of  John 
Burton.  In  the  carefully  kept  registers  of  ecclesiastical 
appointments  made  during  the  Commonwealth — records  cor- 
responding to  the  Episcopal  registers  of  the  previous  and  sub- 
sequent periods — there  is  the  following  entr}',  dated  Whitehall, 
the  IGth  day  of  January,  1G05-6  :  "  Know  all  men  by  these 
presents  that  whereas  the  Mastership  and  Rectory  of  the  Hos- 
pitall  of  St.  John  Baptist  in  y^  Towne  of  Bedford  is  and 
stands  sequestered  from  Mr.  Theodore  Crowley,  late  Rector 
thereof;  and  Mr.  John  Burton  is  by  His  Highness,  Oliver, 
Lord  Protector  of  England,  &c.,  under  his  seal  raanuall,  nomi- 
nated thereunto,  the  Commissioners  for  approbation  of  Publi(iuo 
Preachers  having  received  a  Testimony  of  the  holy  and  good 
conversation  of  the  said  John  Burton,  and,  fmding  him  to  be 
u  person  qualified  as  in  and  by  the  Ordinance  for  such  apjjro- 
bation  is  required.  Doe  by  these  presents  ratifie,  confirm,  and 
allow  the  paid  John  Burton  to  be  and  continue  in  the  Hospitull 
aforesaid  as  Publi(iue  Preacher  there."  * 

John  Jjurton,  John  Bunyan's  second  pastor,  who  thus  came 
in  as  the  successor  of  Ciifford,  was  u  young  man  who,  under 
the  strain  of  public  life,  proved  to  bo  of  delicate  health  and  his 
niini«try  of  brief  duration.  Ho  appears  to  have  been  greatly 
beloved  by  the  people  of  liia  charge.  In  their  Church  records 
•   Lambtlh  J/iA'.— AugmcnUitiom,  vol.  WH,  fol.  401). 


104  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap,  vi 

he  is  spoken  of  with  much  affection,  and  his  repeated  prostra- 
tions by  illness  were  the  subject  of  devout  concern  at  their 
meetings  for  prayer.  These  records  of  the  Church  began  to 
be  kept  about  four  months  after  his  appointment,  that  is,  in 
May,  1656,  and  with  only  such  breaks  as  days  of  persecution 
necessitated  have  been  continued  down  to  our  own  times.  Since 
they  have  not  before  been  published  we  may  give  them  here  so 
far  as  they  illustrate  the  Christian  life  of  the  seventeenth 
century  and  the  mode  of  Church  fellowship  adopted  by  Bunyan 
and  the  brethren  and  sisters  who  consorted  with  him. 

With  a  reference  to  the  sister  who  was  Gifford's  first  con- 
vert, the  minutes  of  the  Acts  of  the  Church  commence  some- 
what abruptly  thus :  — 

"At  the  meeting  of  the  congregation  at  Bedford  the  24th  of  the 
second  mon  :  *  [24th  May],  1656,  Sister  Cooper's  desire  of  joyning 
with  the  congregation  was  considered,  and  bro :  Burton,  bro : 
Spensely,  and  bro  :  Harrington  were  appointed  to  go  to  her,  for  the 
further  satisfaction  of  the  Church. 

''26th  of  the  4th  moneth  [26th  July],  John  Wilson's  desire  of 
joyning  with  the  congregation  was  mentioned,  and  it  was  agreed 
that  he  should  give  an  account  of  the  worke  of  grace  in  his  soul, 
next  meeting.!  Some  brethren  at  Woollaston  desiring  to  joyne  in 
tfellowship  with  us  it  was  agreed  that  before  the  next  meeting  a  day 
should  be  set  apart  to  seek  the  Lord  concerning  it.  It  was  concluded 
likewise  that  the  members  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  and  about 
Steventon  may  breake  bread  with  us  and  we  with  them  as  the  Lord 
shall  give  opportunity. 

"28th  of  the  6th  moneth  [28th  Sept.].  It  is  agreed  that  a 
speedy  course  be  taken  either  by  publick  petition  or  some  private 
way  to  gather  a  sume  of  money  for  the  release  of  our  Sister  Deane. 
It  is  agreed  also  that  next  fourth  day  of  the  weeke  come  fortnight  be 
set  apart  to  seeke  God  by  prayer. 

"  1st  day  of  the  8th  moneth  [1st  Nov.].  It  was  agreed  that  two 
brethren  should  be  made  choyce  of  every  monethly  meeting  to  go 
abroad  to  visit  our  brethren  and  sisters  ;  and  to  certify  us  how  they 
doe  body  and  soule  ;  and  to  stirre  them  up  to  come  (especially  at  our 

*  Old  style  :  April  was  the  first  montli  of  the  year. 

t  John  Wilson  was  afterwards  the  first  minister  of  the  Nonconformist  Church 
at  Hitchin,  and  one  of  the  editors  of  the  first  collected  edition  of  Banyan's  works, 
published  in  1692. 


1656-:.]     FIVE  YJEARS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFE :  \(Sbb-\(jQ>0.    105 

raonethly  meetings)  to  us  to  Bedford ;  and  to  let  them  know  if  they 
come  not,  the  Church  will  expect  an  account  of  the  reason  of  their 
absence.  It  was  desired  that  bro  :  Burton  would  spend  one  houro 
in  the  weeke,  in  exhorting  the  prisoners  in  the  County  Goale,  and 
he  consented  to  enter  upon  that  worke  the  next  weeke  following. 

"  The  latter  part  of  the  9th  moneth  [Dec.].  It  was  agreed  that 
the  oth  day  of  the  next  weeke  be  kept  as  a  day  of  prayer  to  God 
upon  the  account  of  God's  hand  upon  many  of  the  members,  and 
othei-s  in  the  jilaces  where  we  dwell.  In  respecte  of  the  present 
distresse  of  many  of  our  friends,  upon  whom  God's  hand  of  visitation 
Ives,  it  is  thought  fit  and  agreed  that  our  brethren  doe  according  to 
their  severaU  abilityes  deposite  something  in  the  hands  of  our  bro  : 
Spencely  :  who  is  desired  to  spend  the  same  to  and  for  our  severall 
distressed  friends  use. 

"  25th  of  the  10th  moneth  [25th  January]  :     Upon  friend  Allen's 
desire  of  jo}Tiing  with  us  bro  :  "Whitbread  and  bro  :  Grew   were 
appointed  to  commimo  witli  him.     "\Ve  do  also  agree  that  such  per- 
sons as  desire  to  joj-ne  in  fellowship,  if  upon  the  conference  of  our 
friends  with  them,  who  shall  bo  sent  for  that  purpose,  our  saide 
friends   be  satisfyed  of  the  truth  of  the  worke  of  grace  in  their 
heartes  ;  then  they  shall  desire  them  to  come  to  the  next  Church 
Meeting,   and  to  waite  neare  the  place  assigned  for  the  Meeting, 
that  they  may  be  called  in  :    And  if  notw^'standing  that  first  satis- 
faction,  it  be  aftenvards  thought  fitt  that  any  persons  so  appearing 
bo  yet  delayed ;   that  then  some  of  the  brethren  go  forth  and  have 
conference  with  them,  and  labour  in  the  Wisdome  and  Spirit  of  the 
Gospell  to  incourago  them  to  farther  waitinge ;  and  indeavour  the 
prevention  of  any  Teraptatitm  that  by  the  denyall   of  admittance 
they  may  be  exposed  to.     It  was  appointed  that  the  15th  day  of  the 
next  moneth  bo  set  apart  to  seek  (iod  and   return  praises  to  him. 
Information  was  also  given  to  the  Church  of  the  miscarriage  of  bro  : 
Oliver  Dicks  of  Milton  wliich  was  very  great :  i\or  lie  (as  he  saide) 
having  lost  a  sheep  and  a  slieep  l)oing  staide  in  another  field,  he  was 
sent  in  to  owuo  it  if  it  were  his :  ami  ho  came  and  owned  it ;  and 
tho'  by  the  way  (as  himself  expressed)  he  judged  in  his  Conscience 
that  it  was  not  his  ;  yet  did  not  carry  it  back  againe,  but  tooko  it 
away  and  koi)t  it,  and  sold  tho  lleeco  and  would  have  sold  tlie  sheep, 
there  br-ing  ncjt  above  4d.  or  Kd.  difference  in  bargaining:   But  tho 
sheep  being   owned   lie    was    brouglit    beftjro    a  .Justice  where    ho 
restored  tho  sljeep  and  20d.  for  the  fleece  to  tho  party  whoso  owno 
it  was.     And  all  this  to  tho  great  dislionour  of  God,  tho  wounding 
of  his  owno  soulo  and  great  scandull  to  tlio  Chureli  of  Christ,  of 
which  ho  is  a  member.     Upon  consideration  thereof,  being  sent  for 


106  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

by  the  Congregation ;  after  a  full  debate  had  and  things  aforesaide 
prooved  to  him,  besides  some  confession  of  his  owne  ;  his  evill  also 
being  opened  and  charged  home  upon  him,  he  was  by  general!  con- 
sent withdrawne  from  for  the  present. 

"25th  day  of  the  12th  moneth  [25th  March]:  Whereas  bro: 
Thomas  Allen  desireth  to  walk  in  fellowship  with  us  and  we  are 
satisfyed  of  the  work  of  grace  in  his  soule,  onely  do  require  that  he 
should  submit  his  gift  (formerly  exercised)  to  the  judgement  of  the 
Church ;  and  he  not  being  at  present  willing  thereto  was  desired  to 
consider  of  it  till  the  next  Meeting. 

"  1657,  6th  day  of  the  1st  moneth  [6th  April].  Whereas  bro  : 
Thomas  Allen  yet  refuseth  it  is  agreed  that  his  receiving  be  stayed 
for  the  present.  It  was  agreed  that  the  13th  day  of  the  next  moneth 
be  set  apart  to  seek  God  about  the  affaires  of  the  Church  ;  the  affaires 
of  the  Nation  and  the  worke  of  God  in  y®  world. 

"At  the  Meeting  of  the  Church  the  30th  of  the  2nd  moneth  [30th 
May].  Many  of  the  Friends  were  absent  upon  a  publick  occasion 
so  that  nothing  was  then  acted. 

"  28th  of  the  3rd  moneth  [June  28th]  :  It  was  agreed  that  bro : 
John  Crane  be  admitted  a  member  of  this  Congregation  upon  his 
profession  that  he  joyneth  with  us,  as  we  are  in  union  with  Christ 
though  differing  in  judgement  about  some  outward  things.  Bro  : 
Bunyan,  bro  :  Childe  and  bro  :  John  Fenn  were  appointed  to  go  to 
friend  Stratton,  junr.,  of  Stoughton. 

"It  is  agreed  that  next  2nd  day  of  the  week  come  seven-night  be 
set  apart  to  praise  God  for  his  goodness  in  delivering  us  out  of  our 
late  troubles,  and  to  seeke  God  for  direction  in  discoursing  with  any 
of  our  dissenting  friends." 

The  last  three  entries  point  to  some  grave  cause  of  anxiety, 
of  more  than  merely  local  concern,  which  was  agitating  the 
Bedford  Church  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1657.  We  find 
them  anxious  unto  prayer  "  about  the  affaires  of  the  nation  ;  " 
friends  among  them  are  absent  from  a  church-gathering  "  upon 
a  publick  occasion  ; "  and  finally,  when  the  strain  is  over,  they 
set  apart  a  day  to  praise  God  for  delivering  them  out  of  their 
"  late  troubles,"  and  to  seek  for  direction  in  discoursing  with 
their  "dissenting  friends,"  who  are  evidently  not  in  thankful 
mood  with  the  rest  of  their  brethren. 

The  occasion  was  memorable  enough  both  for  them  and  for 
the  nation.  About  midnight  of  January  8th  a  determined 
attempt  had  been  made,  by  setting  fire  to  Whitehall  Palace,  to 


1657.]     Firi:  YEARS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFE:  1655-16G0.        107 

take  away  Crorawell's  life.  Fortunately,  it  failed,  rarliament 
appointed  a  day  of  thanksgiving  for  the  Protector's  deliverance, 
and  waited  on  him  in  a  body  to  congratulate  him  upon  his 
escape.  But  that  escape  had  been  narrow,  and  some  began 
seriously  to  consider  whether  the  nation  would  not  be  more 
settled  if  Oliver  were  to  become  king,  with  succession  of  his 
heirs  male  to  the  crown.  A  Humble  Address  and  Remon- 
strance was  read  in  the  House  of  Commons,  asking  the  Pro- 
tector to  concur  with  Parliament  in  a  total  recasting  of  the 
existing  constitution.  The  first  article  after  the  preamble  ran 
thus :  •'  That  your  Highness  will  be  pleased  to  assume  the 
name,  style,  title,  dignity,  and  office  of  King  of  England,  Scot- 
land, and  Ireland."  The  rest  of  the  address  was  in  accordance 
with  this  first  clause.  There  was  to  be  an  end  of  arbitrary 
power,  and  once  more  government  under  a  limited  monarchy. 
On  the  25th  of  March,  by  a  majority  of  123  to  62,  or,  as  nearly 
as  possible,  two  to  one,  the  kingship  clause  was  carried,  in 
a  somewhat  amended  form,  and  the  title.  Address  and  Re- 
monstrance changed  into  that  of  Petition  and  Advice. 

The  rumour  of  this  gradually  got  abroad  in  the  country, 
creating  great  division  of  opinion.  There  was  a  strong  party 
in  Bcdfordsliire  adverse  to  the  proposed  change.  William 
Dell  of  Ycldon,  with  John  Donne  of  Pertenhall,  and 
others,  drew  up  a  document,  a  copy  of  which,  dated  April 
14th,  1G07,  is  among  the  broadsides  in  the  King's  Library,* 
and  is  entitled  "  The  Humble  and  Serious  Testimony  of  many 
hundreds  of  godly  and  well-affected  people  in  the  county 
of  Bedford  and  parts  adjacent,  constant  adherers  to  the  cause 
of  God  and  the  Nation."  This  document  states  that  the 
object  of  the  late  war  was  to  "  recover  our  civill  and  religious 
rights  and  liberties,"  and  that  this  good  cause  "is  now  in  danger 
of  being  brought  into  a  particular  (iuarrell  between  Person  and 
Person,  Family  and  Family  touching  the  administration  of 
Government  in  these  Nations,"  The  subscribers  state  they 
have  neither  heart  nor  hand  in  these  late  "  Declinings  from  the 
cause  of  Christ  nor  in  tlie  cliange  of  Government  from  a  Com- 
monwealth."    They  think  that  the  proposed  change  will  "lay 

•  liritUh  iluMum,   ii"-.?iii 
223 


108  JOBN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

the  foundation  for  a  new,  most  bloody  and  desolating  war ;  " 
they  apprehend  "  the  forme  of  a  Commonwealth  as  opposed  to 
Monarchy  to  be  more  expedient,  yea,  necessary,  seeing  the 
interest  of  no  single  person  will  probably  be  able  long  to  stand 
against  the  interest  and  Family  ot  the  Stuarts,  which  the  Com- 
monwealth wisely  managed  may  better  doe.  Wherefore  we 
declare  that  we  still  remaine  faithfull  to  the  first  good  cause." 

The  signing  of  this  testimony  was  evidently  regarded  in 
Bedford  as  involving  peril  and  demanding  secrecy.  Those 
who  have  looked  most  closely  into  the  evidence  think  it  by  no 
means  certain  that  Cromwell  himself  knew  anything  before- 
hand, or  had  anything  to  do  with  originating  the  proposal  for 
a  kingship  ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  officials  of  the 
Government  were  actively  promoting  it.  It  is  tolerably  clear 
that  Secretary  Thurloe  had  written  down  to  Robert  Fitzhugh, 
the  Mayor  of  Bedford,  ordering  the  arrest  of  all  who  had  taken 
part  in  the  "  Humble  and  Serious  Testimony."  For  on  the 
24th  of  April  the  Mayor  and  John  Barber,  one  of  the  magis- 
trates, wrote  to  Thurloe,  asking  for  the  release  of  their  fellow- 
townsmen,  and  enclosing  all  the  evidence  they  could  obtain. 
They  express  the  opinion  that  the  information  obtained  from 
Mr.  Pare  is  the  most  important ;  they  had  sent  for  Robert  Grew 
(John  Grew's  son),  but  he  was  out  of  the  town,  and  they  should, 
they  said,  keep  their  eyes  and  ears  open.  "  In  the  meantime 
we  await  your  commands,  and  humbly  crave  that  you  put  a 
speedy  period  to  the  restraint  of  our  neighbours."  In  the 
evidence  forwarded  by  the  Mayor,  Richard  Cooper,  a  member 
of  the  Bedford  Church,  deposed  that  "  he  had  signed  the  paper 
afterwards  taken  from  Nich.  Hawkins,  but  is  not  free  to  dis- 
cover the  persons'  names  who  brought  it  to  him,  and  further 
saith  not."  John  Fenn,  haberdasher,  another  member  of  the 
church,  admitted  that  "  he  did  set  his  hand  to  the  paper,  but 
will  not  acknowledge  what  it  concerned,  nor  when  nor  where 
he  did  sign  it ;  nor  is  free  to  answer  any  question  concerning 
it."  The  evidence  of  John  Pare,  which  the  Mayor  described 
as  the  most  material,  was  as  follows  : — 

"This  informant  saith  that  the  last  Lord's  day,  in  the  morning, 
he  being  walking  abroad  did  meet  with  Eobt.  Grew,  who  asked 
him  what  the  news  was  last  night  at  the  Free  School,  being  the 


1657.]    FIVE  YEARS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFE:  1655-1660.      100 

time  and  place  when  Nich.  Hawkins  and  otliers  were  first  examined 
in  order  to  the  paper  stiled  '  The  Humble  and  Serious  Testimony.' 
He  answered  that  he  might  rather  ask  him.  The  said  Grew  replied 
'  that  he  thought  long  to  know,  for  his  father  being  late  there,  and 
he  being  in  bed  before  his  return,  co  uld  hear  nothing  of  it.' 
"WTiereupon  this  informant  said  again,  '  What  is  this  business 
which  is  called  a  plot  ? '  The  said  Eobt.  Grew  answered  and  told 
him  several  particulars  which  this  informant  hath  forgot.  Then 
he  asked  Grew  what  hands  were  to  it  ?  The  said  Eobert  answered, 
' .  .  .  .  that  some  of  the  persons  that  subscribed  were  his  father 
and  himself,  Mr.  John  Eston  the  elder  and  younger.  Colonel  Okey, 
Thos.  Gibbs,  Mr.  Cater  of  Kempston,  and  divers  others,  gentlemen 
in  Bedford  and  Bedfordshire  and  about  Olney  and  St.  Neots  to  the 
number  of  100  ;  and  further  said  to  the  informant  that  Mr.  Dell 
and  Mr.  Donne  were  the  contrivers  of  the  said  paper,  or  at  least 
had  a  hand  in  forming  of  it,  and  further  saith  not.'  "••' 

There  is  other  evidence  to  the  same  purpose,  but  it  is  suffi- 
ciently clear  that  in  Bedford,  as  in  the  army,  and,  indeed,  in 
the  Protector's  own  council,  there  were  "  contrariants  "  who 
inclined  more  to  the  left,  in  the  direction  of  a  real  republic, 
than  to  the  right,  in  the  direction  of  monarchy.  On  the  3rd 
of  April  Cromwell,  in  effect,  though  not  in  form,  refused  the 
offer  of  kingship ;  on  the  4th,  Parliament  by  a  majority  of 
seventy-eight  to  sixty-five,  again  pressed  upon  him  their  "Peti- 
tion and  Advice."  The  matter  was  kept  pending  for  a  whole 
month,  but  on  the  8th  of  May  Cromwell  said  positively  enough, 
"  I  cannot  undertake  this  Government  with  the  title  of  King  : 
and  that  is  mine  Answer  to  this  great  and  weighty  business." 
A  new  Protcctoral  Constitution  was  thereupon  settled,  and 
amidst  public  rejoicings  his  Highness  was  solemnly  installed  in 
his  second  Protectorate.  This  took  place  in  AVest minster  Hall 
on  Friday,  June  2Gth,  and  the  following  Sunday  the  Church  at 
Bedford  set  apart  a  day  of  praise  to  God  for  His  goodness  in 
delivering  them  out  of  their  late  troubles,  and  to  ask  for 
direction  in  dcaKng  with  their  "  dissenting  friends,"  that  is, 
those  members  of  the  Church  who  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  "  Humble  and  Serious  Testimony  "  against  Oliver's 
kingship. 

There  is  only  brief  reference  in  the  minutes  of  the  following 

•    Thuriot's  atalc  I'aper*,  vol.  vi.,  pp.  22S — 230. 


1 10  JOHN  B  TINY  AN.  [chap.  vi. 

year  to  tte  death  of  Cromwell  and  the  succession  of  his  son 
Richard  ;  but  an  address  was  sent  up  from  the  county  magis- 
trates in  Quarter  Sessions  and  from  the  Corporation  of  Bedford, 
offering  submission  to  his  Highness,  the  new  Lord  Protector, 
and  presenting  congratulations  "  touching  his  happie  comyng 
to  the  Government  of  the  Commonwealth."  A  copy  of  the 
one  from  the  county  was  sent  up  to  Thurloe,  the  Secretary  of 
State,  by  Samuel  Bedford  of  Henloe,  accompanied  by  a  letter 
under  date  October  12th,  1658,  asking  to  "  bee  put  in  the  list 
of  mourners  at  the  funeral  of  his  late  Highness,"  and  saying 
that  he  finds  the  country  generally  very  well  satisfied  with  the 
new  Government,  and  "  no  regrett  towards  the  old  family. 
The  Cavaleeres  with  us  very  quiett  and  much  dasht  att  his 
highnesse's  peacable  entrance,  and  does  not  seem  to  have  the 
least  hopes."  * 

There  is  no  evidence  to  show  what  was  Bunyan's  feeling 
concerning  the  "  Humble  and  Serious  Testimony  "  against  the 
Lord  Protector's  assumption  of  the  kingship  of  the  nation. 
The  Testimony  itself  has  been  preserved  on  a  printed  broadside, 
but  the  original  document,  with  the  names  appended  to  it,  is 
not  in  existence ;  we  cannot  say,  therefore,  whether  his  name 
was  among  them  or  not.  In  1657,  when  it  was  presented,  he 
was  already  earnestly  engaged  in  that  exercise  of  preaching 
which  was  to  be  to  life's  end  his  great  life-work.  On  a  com- 
parison of  dates  it  appears  that  about  two  years  after  he  joined 
the  Church,  that  is  in  1655,  he  was  asked  by  the  brethren  to 
speak  a  word  of  exhortation  in  their  gatherings.  Like  all  true 
souls,  he  was  modest  in  his  self-estimate,  and  this  request  of 
theirs,  he  says,  did  much  "  dash  and  abash  "  his  spirit.  Never- 
theless he  rose  to  the  call,  and  though  with  much  weakness 
and  infirmity,  "did  discover  his  gift  among  them."  Those  for- 
tunate first  listeners  felt  at  once  that  no  common  seer  had  risen 
up  among  them.  "  They  did  solemnly  protest,  as  in  the  sight 
of  the  great  God,  that  they  were  both  affected  and  comforted, 
and  gave  thanks  to  the  Father  of  Mercies  for  the  grace  bestowed 
on  me."  Then  he  began  to  go  out  with  the  brethren,  who  went 
into  the  country  to  teach,  and  would  sometimes  add  a  word  to 
what  had  been  said  by  them.  These  added  words  were  words 
*  Thurloe' s  State  Papers,  vol.  vii.,  p.  438. 


1657.]     FIVE  YEARS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFE:  1G55-16G0.     Ill 

of  power,  and  more  and  more  tlie  call  of  God  became  plain  to 
himself  and  to  others.  So  plain  that,  on  the  earnest  desire  of 
the  Church,  and  after  some  solemn  prayer  to  the  Lord,  with 
fasting,  he  was  more  particularly  called  forth  and  appointed  to 
a  more  ordinary  and  public  preaching  of  the  Word.  His  very 
success  surprised  and  humbled  him.  "  Though  of  myself  of  all 
the  Saints  the  most  unworthy,  yet  I  but  with  great  fear  and 
trembling  at  the  sight  of  my  own  weakness  did  set  forth  upon 
the  work  and  did  according  to  my  gift  and  the  proportion 
of  my  Faith  preach  that  blessed  Gospel  that  God  had  shewed 
me."  The  work  grew  marvellously.  When  the  country 
understood  that  he,  the  tinker,  had  turned  preacher,  "  they 
came  to  hear  the  word  by  hundreds,  and  that  from  all  parts, 
though  upon  sundry  and  divers  accounts." 

He  had  been  preaching  about  a  year  when  he  became  en- 
tangled in  a  controversy  with  the  Quakers,  which  led  to  his 
first  appearance  as  an  author.  In  1654  WilHam  Dewsbury, 
who  has  been  described  as  the  Quaker  Apostle  of  Bedfordshire, 
came  for  the  first  time  into  the  county,  and  made  that  year  a 
notable  convert  in  the  person  of  John  Crook,  who  had  been  sent 
up,  as  we  have  seen,  the  previous  year  to  the  Little  Parliament 
of  1G53.  He  was  a  county  magistrate,  living  at  Beckring's 
Park,  an  estate  ofi"  the  high  road  between  Ampthill  and 
Wobum.  Dewsbury  came  to  this  old  manor-house  and 
preached  to  a  company  of  Bedfordshire  people  gathered  there, 
when  his  words  went  home  with  great  power  to  the  heart  of 
John  Crook  and  his  neighbour  at  the  next  farm,  James  Nagill. 
Speaking  of  this  visit  of  Dewsbury 's.  Crook  said  in  after  years, 
"  Had  I  known  he  was  a  Friend  I  would  have  avoided  hearing 
him.  His  words,  like  spears,  pierced  and  wounded  my  very 
heart,  yet  so  as  they  seemed  unto  me  as  balm  also  ;  and  I  came 
to  see  what  it  was  that  had  so  long  cried  in  me  on  every 
occasion  of  serious  inward  retiring  of  my  own  spirit."  From 
that  time  these  convinced  neighbours  cast  in  their  lot  with  the 
rising  sect,  William  Dewsbury  reporting  "  that  many  Friends 
witnessed  in  much  boldness  for  the  truth,  among  whom  wcro 
Justice  Crutt  [Crook]  and  James  Nagill,  wIkj  were  great  in  the 
outward,  and  whose  dwellings  were  ut  Beckring's  I'ark,  Beds." 
From  that  timo  Crook  laboured  almost  as  zealously,  and  aullered 


112  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

almost  as  grievously  as  George  Fox.  One  of  his  pamphlets  is 
dated  from  Reading  Gaol,  another  from  Ipswich  Town  Gaol, 
two  from  the  gaol  at  Huntingdon,  and  yet  three  others  from 
Aylesbury  Common  Gaol.*  The  year  after  William  Dewsbury's 
visit  George  Fox  himself  came  to  John  Crook's  house,  where 
there  was  a  great  meeting,  and  people  generally  convinced  in 
the  Lord's  truth.  He  was  told  that  the  next  day  several  of 
those  that  were  called  the  gentlemen  of  the  country  would  come 
to  dine  with  him,  and  discourse  with  him. 

From  that  time  Beckring's  Park  became  in  the  Midlands 
what  Swarthmoor  Hall  was  in  the  North  Country — a  place  of 
munificent  hospitality  and  social  rendezvous  for  the  Society  of 
Friends.  In  1658  the  old  manor-house,  with  its  great  square 
hall,  its  wide  staircase,  and  balustraded  open  galleries,  took  its 
place  in  history  as  the  place  of  the  first  of  the  general  or  circular 
yearly  meetings  of  the  Quakers  still  observed.  "  The  meeting 
lasted  for  three  days,  and  many  Friends  from  most  ]3arts  of 
the  nation  came  to  it,  so  that  the  inns  and  towns  round  about 
were  filled,  for  many  thousands  of  people  were  at  it.  And 
although  there  was  some  disturbance  by  some  rude  people,  yet 
the  Lord's  power  came  over  all,  and  a  glorious  meeting  it  was."t 
The  descendants  of  Raven,  who  succeeded  Nagill  in  the  farm 
near  by,  and  the  long  resident  family  of  the  Hows,  at  Aspley 
Guise,  kept  up  the  tradition  of  the  great  gathering  of  1 658,  and 
described  occurrences  at  inns,  farms,  and  private  houses  in  the 
neighbouring  villages  where  Friends  were  hospitably  enter- 
tained. 

Two  years  before  this  first  great  yearly  meeting  at  Beckring's 
Park  individual  Quakers  had  found  their  way  into  the  town  of 
Bedford,  and  there  delivered  their  testimony  on  the  inward 
light  in  terms  which,  to  Bunyan  and  other  members  of  the 
Church,  seemed  to  come  perilously  near  to  a  disparagement  of 
the  written  w^ord.  From  casual  glimpses  in  the  writings  both 
of  Edward  Burrough  and  of  Bunyan  himself,  we  find  contro- 
versies going  on  in  public  between  the  latter  and  some  of  the 
Friends.      Danson   speaks  of  a  conflict  between  Bunyan  and 

•  TJie  Design  of  Christianity,  Testified  in  the  Books,  Epistles,  and  Manuscripts 
of  that  Ancient,  Faithful  Servant  of  Christ  Jesus,  John  Ciiook.     London,  1701, 
t  Journal  of  George  Fox,  I.,  463,  Ed.  1836. 


1656.]     FIVE  YEARS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFE:  16o5-16G0.      IKJ 

some  Quakers  at  the  market  cross  in  Bedford  ;  Burrough  tells 
us  of  certain  words  spoken  by  Bun  van  on  the  12th  of  April  at 
Patnara  [Pavenham]  ;  of  what  John  Burton  and  John  Bunyan 
said  in  Paul's  Steeple-house  in  Bedford  town  on  the  23rd  of 
May,  1656  ;  and  of  what  John  Bunion  and  one  Fcun  and  John 
Child  laid  down  on  the  23rd  of  the  8th  month  [23rd  Novem- 
ber], 1656.  On  one  of  these  occasions  a  zealous  Quaker  sister 
took  part  in  the  discussions,  for  Bunyan  says  to  Burrough  : 
"  I  shall  tell  you  of  your  sister,  Anne  Blackley,  who  did  bid 
me  in  the  audience  of  many  to  throw  away  the  Scriptures ;  to 
which  I  answered,  No  !  for  then  the  devil  would  be  too  hard  for 
me,"  Burrough  complains  farther  "  that  John  Bunion  said  the 
30th  of  the  10th  month  [30th  January]  that  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
doth  nothing  (mark  !)  within  man  as  to  justification — 0  horrid 
blindness !  not  to  be  parrelelled." 

Into  this  controversy  Bunj'an  entered  with  so  much  interest 
that,  as  we  have  hinted  already,  it  led  to  his  first  venture  in  the 
way  of  authorship.  Evidently  thrown  off  at  a  heat,  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  steeple-house  disputations  of  that  same  year,  there 
appeared  a  little  volume  in  duodecimo  of  about  two  hundred 
pages,  entitled  "  Some  Gospel  Truths  Opened,  by  that  unworthy 
servant  of  Christ,  John  Bunyan  of  Bedford,  by  the  Grace  of 
God,  preacher  of  the  Gospel  of  his  dear  Son."  Possibly  there 
was  no  bookseller  in  Bedford  then ;  or  he  may,  for  reasons  ol 
friendship,  have  resorted  to  one  whose  acquaintance  he  made  in 
his  soldiering  days  ;  for  the  imprint  runs  thus:  "London,  jjriutcd 
for  J.  "W.,  and  are  to  be  sold  by  Mathias  Cowley,  Bookseller  in 
Newport  Pagnell,  1656."*  There  was  an  epistle  prefatory  by 
John  Burton,  in  which  he  says  of  Bunyan  :  "  This  man  is  not 
chosen  out  of  an  earthly  but  out  of  the  heavenly  university,  the 
Church  of  Christ.  .  .  .  Ilo  hath  through  grace  taken  these 
three  heavenly  degrees,  to  wit,  union  with  Christ,  the  anointing 
of  the  Spirit,  and  experiences  of  the  temptations  of  Satan, 
which  do  more  fit  a  man  for  that  mighty  work  of  preaching 
the  Gospel  than  all  university  learning  and  degrees  that  can 
be  had."  He  adds  that  he  himself  has  had  "experience  with 
many  others  of  this  man's  soundnesso  in  the  faith,  of  his  godly 
conversation  and  his  ability  to  preach  the  Gospel." 

•  Tho  only  known  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  this,  Dunyunu  IJrst  book,  is 
in  tho  pouaettsioa  of  .Mr.  Willium  Turbutt  of  Crunbrook. 

1 


lU  JOUN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  yi. 

The  drift  of  the  book  was  a  protest  against  what  he  thought 
the  dangerous  mysticism  of  Quaker  teachings.  There  was  really 
an  historic  Christ,  Son  of  Mary  and  Son  of  God,  as  well  as  a 
spiritual  Christ  revealed  in  the  soul.  He  will  plant  his  feet 
firmly  on  the  facts  of  revelation,  and  has  too  much  common 
sense  to  allow  everything  to  be  explained  away  into  mere 
transcendentalism.  Spiritual  he  is  to  his  heart's  core,  but 
vainly  mystical  he  will  not  be.  This  was  his  controversy  with 
the  Quakers.  He  will  have  no  spiritualising  away  into  thin 
air  of  the  facts  of  our  Lord's  life.  Here  Jesus  lived  in  a  body 
like  our  own,  and  here  he  literally  died.  He  was  no  mere 
shadow,  but  "  the  very  substance  of  all  things  that  did  in  any 
way  type  out  Christ."  He  was  truly  born  into  the  world,  truly 
died,  and  was  buried,  and  in  true  and  real  sense,  and  not  in 
any  merely  spiritual  signification  ascended  into  heaven.  "I 
was  told  to  my  face,"  says  he,  "  that  I  preached  up  an  idol 
because  I  said  that  the  Son  of  Mary  was  in  heaven  with  the 
same  body  that  was  crucified  on  the  Cross."  And  His  second 
coming  will  be  as  literal  as  His  first.  "  The  day  shall  burn  as 
an  oven,  and  the  evil  shall  be  as  stubble.  Ah,  friends,  put  a 
red  hot  oven  and  stubble  together  and  what  work  there  will 
be  !  "  He  takes  his  farewell,  warning  his  readers  against  those 
who  are  for  a  Christ  within,  a  cross  within,  a  resurrection  and 
intercession  within,  and  not  for  a  Christ  without,  a  resurrection 
of  Christ  without,  an  intercession  of  Christ  without.  He  will 
have  them  receive  a  Son  of  Man  and  Son  of  God  in  truth,  and 
they  will  do  more  work  for  God  in  one  hour  than  mere  visionaries 
can  do  in  a  lifetime. 

This  little  book  of  Bunyan's  fell  into  the  hands  of  Edward 
Burrough,  a  young  man  of  three-and-twenty,  a  fervent,  earnest 
soul  among  the  Quakers,  who,  six  years  later,  sealed  his  testi- 
mony with  his  life  in  the  gaol  of  Newgate.  There  quickly 
appeared  a  reply  entitled,  "  The  True  Faith  of  the  Gospel  of 
Peace,  contended  for  in  the  spirit  of  meekness.  .  .  .  against 
the  secret  opposition  of  John  Bunyan,  a  professed  minister  in 
Bedfordshire."  One  wishes  that  these  two  good  men  could 
have  had  a  little  free  and  friendlv  talk  face  to  face.  There 
would  probably  have  been  better  understanding  and  fewer  hard 
words,  for  they  were  really  not  so  far  apart  as  they  thought. 


1656.]     FIVE  YFAIiS  OF  BFDFOniJ  LIFF:  IGoo-lGGO.     115 

Bunyan  believed  in  the  inward  light,  and  Buirough  surely 
accepted  an  objective  Christ.  But  tailing  to  see  each  other's 
exact  point  of  view,  Burrough  thunders  at  Bunyan,  and  Bunyan 
swiftly  returns  the  shot.  Within  a  few  weeks  there  appears 
from  the  pen  of  the  latter  "  A  Vindication  of  Gospel  Truths 
Opened,"  in  which  he  tells  Friend  Burrough  that  he  is  very 
censorious,  and  utters  many  words  without  knowledge.  These 
mystical  doctrines  of  his,  he  says,  are  not  new ;  "  the  very 
opinions  that  are  held  at  this  day  by  Quakers  are  the  same  that 
long  ago  were  held  by  the  Ranters,  only  the  Ranters  had  made 
them  threadbare  at  an  alehouse,  and  the  Quakers  have  set  a 
new  gloss  upon  them  again  by  an  outward  legal  holiness." 
"  Other  lame  arguments  thou  tumblest  over  like  a  blind  man 
in  a  thicket  of  bushes,"  which  Bunyan  passes  by,  following  him 
up  closely  as  to  the  difference  between  the  light  of  conscience 
and  the  light  of  the  Spirit,  for  on  this  point  Burrough  has 
given  "  but  a  glavering  answer."  "  Surely  if  salvation  comes 
by  our  conscience,  or  by  the  convictions  or  commands  thereof, 
Christ  Jesus  died  for  nothing.  He  that  doth  think  to  be  born 
again  by  following  his  conscience  or  any  other  light  that  is  in 
an  unregenerate  man,  will  be  deceived,  and  shall  one  day  know 
that  there  is  a  difference  between  conscience  and  Christ ; 
between  the  light  of  nature  and  the  Spirit  of  God."  Burrough 
had  said  that,  as  a  preacher,  Bunyan  had  run  before  he  was  sent, 
and  did  not  profit  the  people.  To  which  liunyan  replies,  that 
he  is  willing  to  leave  that  to  the  judgment  of  the  people  of  God 
in  the  country  where  he  dwells,  who  will  testii'y  the  contrary 
for  him,  "  setting  aside  the  carnal  ministry,  with  their  retinue, 
who  are  as  mad  against  me  as  thyself." 

But  though  Bunyan's  first  appeurance  as  an  author  was  in 
the  region  of  controversy,  it  was  not  along  this  line  his  best 
work  was  to  be  done.  He  was  to  win  the  homage  of  men's 
hearts  by  holding  up  those  central  verities  on  which  Christians 
are  nminly  agreed,  and  by  unfolding  the;  fairer  aspects  of  that 
life  from  God  which  makes  them  one.  Preaching  became  the 
passion,  as  it  had  become  the  work,  of  his  life.  He  gave  himself 
wholly  to  it,  in  the  sense  that  he  was  a  whole  man  in  it.  At  u 
later  time,  as  he  lay  a  prisoner  in  Bedford  (iaol,  he  went  h:n'k 
in   thought   over  tho  live  years  between  1056  and  1  GOO,  when 

I    ^ 


116  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

he  was  at  large,  and  laid  bare  for  us  tlie  heart-experiences  to 
which  he  was  no  stranger  as  he  pleaded  with  men.  More 
than  most,  he  compassed  the  range,  ascended  the  heights,  and 
sounded  the  depths  of  the  preacher's  life.  Sometimes,  he  says, 
he  would  start  with  clearness,  evidence,  and  liberty  of  speech, 
and  before  long  become  so  straitened  before  the  people  that  it 
seemed  to  him  as  if  his  *'  head  had  been  in  a  bag  all  the  time 
of  the  exercise."  Sometimes  he  would  be  seized  with  a  strange 
faintness  and  strengthlessness  of  body  on  his  way  to  the  place 
of  meeting,  and  afterwards  be  "  tempted  to  pride  and  liftings 
up  of  heart  "  at  his  hold  over  the  people.  With  the  instinct  of 
a  real  prophet  of  God,  he  wished  to  see  the  truth,  not  through 
other  men's  eyes,  but  through  his  own.  He  could  not  use  other 
men's  lines,  finding  "  by  experience  that  what  was  taught  him 
by  the  Word  and  Spirit  of  Christ  could  be  spoken  to,  main- 
tained, and  stood  to  by  the  soundest  and  best  established  con- 
science." No  preacher  of  doubts  was  he,  but  of  assured  verities. 
He  felt,  he  says,  "  as  if  an  Angel  were  at  his  back  ;  "  that  which 
he  spoke  lay  with  such  power  and  heavenly  evidence  upon  his 
soul  that  he  could  "  not  be  contented  with  saying  I  believe  and 
am  sure  ;  methought  I  was  more  than  sure  (if  it  be  lawful  so 
to  express  myself)  that  those  things  which  then    I  asserted 


were  true." 


With  the  true  preacher's  passionate  longing,  he  strove  to 
get  firm  grip  of  the  souls  of  his  hearers.  "  In  my  preaching 
I  have  really  been  in  pain,  I  have,  as  it  were,  travailed  to  bring 
forth  Children  to  God."  If  his  work  were  fruitless  it  mattered 
little  who  praised,  or  if  it  were  fruitful,  who  condemned.  He 
often  noticed  that  "  when  he  had  a  work  to  do  for  God  in  a 
place,  there  was  a  great  going  of  God  upon  his  spirit,  leading 
him  to  desire  to  go  there."  He  also  observed  that  such  and  such 
souls  in  particular  were  strongly  set  upon  his  heart,  and  these 
very  souls  afterwards  given  him  as  the  fruits  of  his  ministry. 
It  was  not  always  his  best  preparation  he  found  to  be  most 
eficctive.  "  A  word  cast  in  by  the  by  hath  done  more  execution 
in  a  Sermon  than  all  that  was  spoken  besides."  Sometimes, 
when  he  thought  he  had  done  no  good  he  did  most,  and  at  other 
times,  when  ho  thought  he  should  catch  men,  he  has  fished  for 
nothing.      Occasionally  he  has  been  about  to    take  up  some 


FIVi:  TEARS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFE:  1655-1660.       117 

smart  aud  searchino:  portion  of  the  T\'^or(l,  when  np  starts  the 
Tempter  and  asks  him  if  he  really  is  going  to  preach  a  Truth 
which  so  plainly  condemns  himself;  but  he  thanks  God,  who 
helped  him  to  put  down  these  horrid  suggestions,  and  to  bow 
himself  with  all  his  might  to  condemn  Sin  and  Transgression 
wherever  found,  even  upon  his  own  conscience.  Let  me  die, 
thought  I,  with  the  Philistines,  rather  than  deal  corruptly 
with  the  blessed  Word  of  God. 

When  tempted  to  vanity  over  his  success,  "  the  Lord  of  his 
precious  mercy  hath  so  carried  it  towards  me  that  for  the 
most  part  I  have  had  but  small  joy  to  give  way  to  such  a 
thing.  For  it  hath  been  my  every  day's  portion  to  be  let 
into  the  evil  of  my  own  heart,  and  still  made  to  see  such  a 
multitude  of  corruptions  and  infirmities  therein  that  it  hath 
caused  hanging  down  of  the  head  under  all  my  Gifts  and 
Attainments.  I  have  felt  this  thorn  in  the  Flesh  the  very  God 
of  mercy  to  me."  He  saw  that,  if  he  had  gifts,  but  wanted 
saving  grace,  he  was  but  as  a  tinkling  cymbal.  "  This  con- 
sideration was  as  a  maul  on  the  head  of  Pride  and  desire  of 
vain  glory.  What,  thought  I,  shall  I  be  proud  because  I  am 
a  sounding  brass  ?  Is  it  so  much  to  be  a  Fiddle  ?  "  Love  will 
never  die,  but  gifts  will  cease  and  vanish;  gifts  are  not  our 
own,  but  the  Church's,  and  to  be  accounted  for  in  stewardship. 
Gifts,  indeed,  are  desirable,  but  yet  great  grace  and  small  gifts 
are  better  than  great  gifts  and  no  grace.  At  sight  of  this  the 
snare  was  broken  and  he  escaped.  The  eneni)^  not  being  able 
to  overthrow  liim  by  inward  temptations  set  about  outward 
opposition.  Bunyan  noticed,  and  could  *'  instance  particulars  " 
to  show,  that  "  where  the  Lord  was  most  at  work  Satan  was 
busiest,  hath  there  begun  to  roar  in  the  hearts,  and  by  the 
mouths  of  his  servants  ;  where  the  world  has  raged  most  there 
souls  have  been  most  awakened." 

In  his  teachings  he  proceeds  to  tell  us  that  he  cared  not  to 
meddle  with  things  that  were  controverted  and  in  dispute 
amongst  the  saints,  especially  things  of  the  lowest  nature. 
His  work,  he  felt,  lay  in  another  channel,  to  contend  with 
great  earnestness  for  the  word  of  lailh  and  remission  of  sins 
by  the  death  anfl  suH'erings  of  Jesus ;  to  carry  an  awakening 
word;   and  to  that,   therefore,  did   he  stick  and  adhero.     Ho 


118  JOHN  BJINYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

took  special  notice  that  the  Lord  led  him  to  begin  where  His 
word  beo-ins  with  the  sinner — at  the  condemnation  of  the  law, 
because  of  sin.  This  part  of  his  work  he  "  fulfilled  with  great 
sense,"  for  in  those  earlier  days  the  terrors  lay  heavy  on  his  own 
conscience.  He  preached  what  he  felt,  what  he  "  smartingly 
did  feel."  He  seemed  to  go  in  chains  to  preach  to  them  in 
chains,  and  carried  that  fire  in  his  own  conscience  that  he  per- 
suaded them  to  beware  of. 

It  was  at  this  time  in  his  life-experience,  when  as  yet  love  had 
not  cast  out  fear,  that  he  sent  forth  his  work  on  the  parable  of 
the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,  entitled  "Sighs  from  Hell."*  Taking 
the  parable  as  descriptive  of  the  literal  facts  of  the  unseen 
world,  Bunyan  gives  play  to  a  vivid  but  weird  imagination. 
"  Consider,"  says  he,  "how  terrible  it  will  be  to  have  all  the 
ten  commandments  condemn  thee  one  after  another,  more 
terrible  than  to  have  ten  of  the  biggest  pieces  of  ordnance  in 
England  to  be  discharged  against  thy  body,  thunder,  thunder, 
one  after  another  !  "  While  the  drift  of  the  book  is  serious, 
there  are  such  strokes  of  the  writer's  special  humour  as  these  : 
The  careless  man  lies  like  the  smith's  dog  at  the  foot  of  the  anvil, 
though  the  fire-sparks  flee  in  his  face.  Some  men  despise  the 
Lazaruses  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  because  they  are  not  gentle- 
men, because  they  cannot  with  Pontius  Pilate  speak  Hebrew, 
Greek,  and  Latin.  The  rich  man  remembers  how  he  slighted 
the  Scriptures :  "  The  Scriptures,  thought  I,  what  are  they  ? 
A  dead  letter,  a  little  ink  and  paper  of  three  or  four  shillings 
price !  Alas !  what  is  the  Scripture  ?  Give  me  a  ballad,  a 
newsbook,  *  George  on  horseback '  or  '  Bevis  of  Southampton  ; ' 

*  A  Few  Sighs  from  Hell,  or  the  Groans  of  a  Damned  Soul,  &c.,  by  that 
poor  and  contemptible  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  John  Bunyan.  London :  printed 
by  Ralph  Wood  for  M.  Wright,  at  the  King's  Head  in  the  Old  Bailey,  1658. 
This  book  was  published  a  few  days  before  Cromwell's  death.  The  Common- 
ivealth  Mercury  of  the  week,  Sept.  2-9,  1658,  came  out  with  a  deep  black 
border,  and  immediately  after  the  announcement  of  the  Protector's  death 
came  this  advertisement :  "  There  is  lately  published  A  few  Sighs  from  Sell, 
or  the  Groans  of  a  Damned  Soul,  by  John  Bunyan."  A  writer  in  Notes  and 
Queries  (Third  Series,  iii.,  325),  asks  whether  the  placing  of  this  advertisement 
after  the  announcement  was  a  more  accident,  or  a  piece  of  malicious  suggestion 
on  the  part  of  some  royalist  ?  This  third  book  of  Bunyan's  has  been  translated 
into  Welsh  {Ocheneidiau  o  JJffcrn  :  Caerfyrddin,  1829),  and  into  Gaelic : 
{.Omachean  bho  Jfrinn  :  Edinburgh,  184G). 


16oS.]     FIVE  TEARS  OF  BELFOBI)  LIFE :  1655-1060.     119 

give  me  some  book  that  teaches  curious  arts,  that  tells  of  old 
fables."  Speaking  of  Christ's  condescension  he  says,  "  He 
became  poorer  than  they  that  go  with  flail  and  rake."  In 
Him  death  has  no  fear  for  us.  "  Death  can  do  thee  no  harm. 
It  is  only  a  passage  out  of  a  prison  into  a  palace,  out  of  a  sea 
of  troubles  into  a  haven  of  rest,  out  of  a  crowd  of  enemies  to 
an  innumerable  company  of  true,  loving,  and  faithful  friends." 
There  is  infinite  comfort  for  us  in  Christ.  "  I  tell  thee,  friend, 
there  are  some  promises  that  the  Lord  hath  helped  me  to  lay 
hold  of  Jesus  Christ  through  and  by,  that  I  would  not  have  out 
of  the  Bible  for  as  much  gold  and  silver  as  can  lie  between  York 
and  London  piled  up  to  the  stars." 

There  is  prefixed  to  this  book  ft  lengthy  address  to  the 
reader,  signed  with  the  initials  "J.  G./'  which  are  probably 
those  of  John  Gibbs,  the  minister  of  Newport  Pagnel,  certainly 
not  of  John  Gifford,  as  Mr.  Ofibr  takes  for  granted,  for.  as  we 
now  know,  Gifford  had  been  dead  three  years  when  the  book 
appeared.  In  this  address  the  writer  says  that  Bunyan,  because 
of  his  fidelity,  had  been  sorely  shot  at  by  the  archers.  He 
himself  tells  us  the  same  thing.  Slanders  were  heaped  upon 
him,  the  grossest  immoralities  were  charged  against  him,  it 
was  rumoured  that  he  was  a  wizard,  a  Jesuit,  a  highway-man, 
and  the  like.  "What  shall  I  say,"  asks  he,  "to  those  who 
have  bespattered  me  ?  Sliall  I  threaten  them  ?  Shall  I  chide 
them  ?  Shall  I  flatter  them  ?  Shall  I  entreat  them  to  hold 
their  tongues  ?  No,  not  I.  It  belongs  to  my  Christian  profes- 
sion to  be  vilified,  slandered,  reproached,  and  reviled.  I 
rejoice  in  reproaches  for  Christ's  sake." 

Known  as  a  tinker,  his  orders  and  his  right  to  preach  were 
always  of  course  being  questioned.  "  When  I  went  first  to 
preach  the  word  abroad,  tlic  doctors  and  priests  of  the  country 
did  open  wide  against  me  **  Yet  if  ever  man  were  God-ordaini'd 
tliis  was  ho.  Ho  had  all  the  signs  of  apostli'sliip.  Tlie  inward 
call  from  above,  a  "  secret  pricking  forward  to  the  work  "  in 
his  own  soul,  the  solemn  setting  apart  of  the  Church  and  tlic 
response  of  the  souls  to  whom  he  spoke  ;  "  they  would  bless  God 
for  me,  and  count  me  God's  instrument  that  shewed  to  tliem 
the  way  of  sjdvation."  Ilaviii;^'  flu's  three-i'old  seal  from  on 
high,  Le  was  comparatively  indilTi-rent   to  the  challenge  of  the 


120  JOHN  BUNTAN.  [chap.  vi. 

world  around  him.  Once,  at  least,  even  in  Commonwealth 
days,  the  arm  of  the  law  was  invoked  against  what  was  re- 
garded as  this  irregular  ministry  of  his.  In  the  month  of 
March,  1658,  we  find  the  Church  at  Bedford  praying  "for 
counsaile  what  to  doe  with  respect  to  the  indictment  against 
brother  Bunyan  at  the  Assizes  for  preaching  at  Eaton."  As  we 
hear  nothing  more  of  this,  probably  nothing  more  came  of  it. 
Indeed,  he  seems  about  this  time  to  have  preached  in  several 
of  the  national  church  buildings  without  molestation.  There 
is  a  tradition  that  he  did  so  in  the  old  and  now  disused  parish 
church  of  Hidgmount.  The  author  of  the  little  sketch  of  his 
life  published  in  1700,  also  tells  us  that  he,  "  being  to  preach 
in  a  country  village  in  Cambridgeshire" — probably  Melbourn 
— "  and  the  people  being  gathered  together  in  the  churchyard, 
a  Cambridge  scholar,  and  none  of  the  soberest  of  them  neither, 
enquired  what  was  the  meaning  of  that  concourse  of  people 
(it  being  upon  a  weekday),  and  being  told  that  one  Bunyan,  a 
tinker,  was  to  preach  there,  he  gave  a  boy  twopence  to  hold 
his  horse,  saying,  '  He  was  resolved  to  hear  the  tinker  prate,' 
and  so  he  went  into  the  church  to  hear  him."  The  writer  gfoes 
on  to  say  that  he  had  this  story  from  the  man  himself,  who 
out  of  that  service  also  became  a  preacher  of  the  truth — 
possibly  referring  to  William  Bedford,  the  founder  in  after  days 
of  Congregationalism  in  Royston.  To  these  years  before  the 
Restoration  belongs  also  the  story  of  Bunyan's  encounter  on 
the  road  near  Cambridge  with  the  university  man,  who  asked 
him  how  he,  not  having  the  original  Scriptures,  dared  to 
preach.  To  this  he  gave  answer  by  asking  this  scholar,  in  turn, 
if  he  himself  had  the  originals,  the  actual  copies  written  by 
prophets  and  apostles.  No,  but  he  had  what  he  knew  to  be 
true  copies  of  the  originals.  "  And  I,"  said  Bunyan,  "  believe 
the  English  Bible  to  be  a  true  copy  also,"  upon  which  the 
university  man  went  his  way. 

In  addition  to  this  small  passage  of  arms  with  the  gownsman, 
there  was  a  yet  more  formal  encounter  between  the  tinker  and 
the  university  librarian.  One  Daniel  Angier,  of  Toft,  in 
Cambridgeshire,  occasionally  invited  Bunyan  to  come  over  and 
preach  in  his  barn.  In  the  month  of  May,  1659,  Bunyan  was 
holding  a  service  in  Angier's  barn,  when  towards  the  end  of 


122  JOHN  JB  UNYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

the  sermon  in  walked  Thomas  Smith,  of  Cambridge,  who  was 
at  once  rector  of  Gawcat,  professor  of  Arabic,  reader  in 
rhetoric,  lecturer  at  Christ's  College,  and  keeper  of  the  univer- 
sity library.  Bunyan  was  preaching  from  1  Tim.  iv.  16, 
and  in  the  course  of  his  sermon  told  his  audience  that  he  knew 
most  of  them  to  be  unbelievers.  At  the  close  of  the  service, 
and  in  the  midst  of  some  confusion.  Smith  went  up  to  Bunyan 
and  asked  him  what  right  he  had  to  say  that  of  men  half  of 
whose  faces  he  had  never  seen  before.  St.  Paul  called  the 
people  to  whom  he  wrote  saints  and  beloved  of  God,  and  all 
the  Protestant  preachers  beyond  seas  addressed  their  auditors 
as  Fideles ;  what  right  had  he,  then,  to  call  a  company  of 
baptized  people  unbelievers  ?  Clearly  he  was  uncharitable, 
and  being  uncharitable,  was  unfit  to  preach.  To  all  this 
Bunyan  replied  that  when  Christ  preached  from  a  ship  to  his 
hearers  on  the  shore.  He  taught  that  there  were  four  kinds  of 
ground  into  which  the  good  seed  of  the  sower  fell,  and  that 
only  one  of  the  four  brought  forth  fruit.  "  Now,"  says  Bunyan, 
"your  position  is  that  he  that  in  effect  condemneth  the  greater 
part  of  his  hearers  hath  no  charity,  and  is  therefore  not  fit  to 
preach  the  gospel.  But  here  the  Lord  Jesus  did  so ;  then 
your  conclusion  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  wanted  charity, 
and  was  therefore  not  fit  to  preach  the  gospel."*  Bunyan 
having  thus  defended  himself,  his  friend,  Daniel  Angier, 
also  rose  up  to  defend  him  and  to  rebuke  his  assailant ;  but 
Smith  denied  the  layman's  right  to  preach,  and  asked 
Bunyan  what  he  had  to  say  to  the  apostle's  question : 
"  How  shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent  ?  "  To  this, 
of  course,  Bunyan  replied  that  the  Church  at  Bedford  had 
sent  him,  to  which,  equally  of  course.  Smith  rejoined  that 
the  Church  at  Bedford,  being  only  lay  people,  could  not  give 
the  tinker  that  which  they  had  not  themselves.  So  ended  the 
parley  in  the  barn. 

The  learned  professor  was  not  satisfied,  however,  with  this 
encounter  with  the  unlearned  tinker,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few 
weeks  he  published  "A  Letter  to  Mr.  E.  of  Taft,  four  miles  from 
Cambridge."  Since  Mr.  E.  would  not  hear  him  in  the  barn,  nor 
suffer  his  daughters  to  stay,  he  will  now  write  part  of  what  he 
*  Charles  Doe's  account,  Folio  of  1692, 


1659.]     FIVE  YEARS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFE:  1655-16G0.    VIW 

meant  to  say  then.  ITopInp;  he  "  will  not  helieve  him  whom 
his  friends  generally  call  the  tinker  upon  his  bare  word,  I 
shall,"  he  says,  "  follow  that  method  which  the  tinker  com- 
manded me,  shewing  first  his  false  doctrine,  and  then  prove 
'tis  a  dangerous  sin  in  him  to  preach  (as  he  did  so  publickly), 
and  in  the  people  to  hear  him."  Starting  by  saying  that  "  if 
any  man  among  you  (though  he  be  a  wandering  preaching 
tinker,  for  you  must  give  me  leave  to  call  him  so  till  I  know 
what  other  name  he  hath)  seemeth  to  be  religious,  and  bridleth 
not  his  tongue,  that  man's  religion  is  vain."  lie  goes  over 
again  the  question  of  a  layman's  right  to  preach,  and  concludes 
that  such  preaching  is  a  piece  of  presumption.  "All  this  your 
tinker  hath  been  guilty  of  and  much  more,  for  he  hath  not 
only  intruded  into  the  pulpits  in  these  parts,  and  caused  the 
people  of  your  town  to  hate  their  lawful  minister  [Mr.  John 
Ellis,  sen.],  but  (as  he  told  me)  encouraged  them  to  proceed  so 
far  as  to  cudgel  him  and  break  open  the  church  doors  by 
violence."  We  may  reasonably  suppose  that  there  is  some 
misunderstanding  here,  or  that  this  professor  of  rhetoric  was 
drawing  upon  a  rhetorical  imagination.  With  the  usual  argu- 
ments, often  advanced  and  as  often  refuted,  Smith  having  tried 
to  prove  his  case,  thus  concludes :  "  And  now,  sir,  let  me 
beseech  you  for  God's  sake,  for  Christ's  sake,  for  the  Church's 
sake,  for  your  reputation's  sake,  for  your  children's  sake,  for 
vour  country's  sake,  for  your  own  immortal  soul's  sake  to  con- 
sider these  things  sadly  and  seriously,  not  to  think  a  tinker 
more  infallible  than  the  pure  Spouse  of  Christ,  and  to  foresee 
what  will  be  the  sad  consc([uence3  both  to  the  souls,  and  bodies, 
and  estates  of  you  and  your  children  in  following  such 
strangers."* 

It  does  not  appear  that  IJunyan  made  any  reply  to  this 
letter  from  Thomas  Smith.  A  reply  was,  however,  made  on 
his  behalf  by  Henry  I)enne,t  himself  a  Cambridge  man, 
and  an  old  friend  of  the  university  librarian.  Appealing  to 
Smith,  he  says  : — 

•  The  Qiiaktr  Disarmr/i.  With  a  T-«tt.  r  in  Dcfenco  of  tho  MiniHtry  and 
ai^inHt  Jjay-Vrnachan.  London  :  lViiit<;d  by  J.  C,  and  aro  Bold  nuor  tho  Litllo 
Nortli-Door  of  St.  /V/i/r*  Church.  lO.J'J. 

t    The  Quaker  no  la pUt.     London:  Francis  Smith,  IC69. 


124  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

"You  seem  to  be  angry  with  the  tinker  because  he  strives  to 
mend  souls  as  well  as  kettles  and  pans.  The  main  drift  of  your 
letter  is  to  prove  that  none  may  preach  except  they  be  sent.  Sir, 
I  think  him  unworthj^  the  name  of  a  tinker  that  affirms  that  any 
one  is  sufficient  to  preach  the  gospel  without  sending.  By  your 
confession  the  tinker  thinks  otherwise,  and  doth  not  deny  what  you 
labour  to  prove,  and  so  you  contend  with  a  shadow.  He  proves 
his  mission  and  commission  from  the  Church  at  Bedford,  you 
should  also  have  proved  that  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  hath  a  better  com- 
mission from  some  other  Church  than  the  tinker  either  hath  or  can 
have  from  the  Church  at  Bedford.  You  must  give  me  leave  to 
propound  something  for  your  consideration  :  Some  shipwrackt  men, 
swimming  to  an  island,  find  there  many  inhabitants,  to  whom  they 
preach ;  the  heathen  hearing  are  converted,  and  walk  together  in 
love,  praising  the  Lord :  whether  the  preaching  of  these  shipwrackt 
men  were  a  sin  ?  Secondly,  whether  it  be  not  lawful  for  this  con- 
gregation to  chuse  to  themselves  pastors,  governours,  teachers,  &c.? 
Thirdly,  whether  this  congregation  may  not  find  some  fitting  men 
full  of  faith  and  the  Holy  Grhost  to  preach  to  other  unbelieving 
heathen?" 

Besides  Henry  Denne  another  university  man  not  only 
thought  that  Bunyan  had  a  right  to  preach,  but  set  him  up  in 
the  pulpit  of  his  own  church  to  do  so.  This  was  William  Dell, 
the  rector  of  Yelden,  who  was  also  master  of  Gonville  and 
Caius.  When  in  1660  the  tide  of  the  Commonwealth  had 
turned  and  the  King  come  back,  some  of  Dell's  Eoyalist 
parishioners  sent  up  a  petition  to  the  House  of  Lords  against 
him.  It  is  dated  June  20th,  1660,  and  endorsed  as  dismissed 
on  July  25th.  Among  other  complaints  brought  against  him  it 
is  alleged  that  he  had  "  declared  in  the  public  congregation 
that  he  had  rather  hear  a  plain  countryman  speak  in  the 
church  that  came  from  the  plough  than  the  best  orthodox 
minister  that  was  in  the  country.  Upon  Christmas  Day  last 
one  Bunyon,  of  Bedford,  a  tinker,  was  countenanced  and 
suffered  to  speak  in  his  pulpit  to  the  congregation,  and  no 
orthodox  minister  did  officiate  in  the  church  that  day."  *  Let 
us  hope  that  these  discontented  parishioners  of  Yelden  whose 
petition  was  dismissed,  recovered  in  time  from  the  indignity  of 
having  hud  to  listen  to  a  tinker  in  their  parish  church,  espe- 

*  Rome  of  Lords  MSS.     June  20th,  IGOU. 


lGo9.]    FIVE  TEARS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFE:  1655-1660.      125 

cially  considering  how  memorable  a  tinker  he  became  ;  and 
let  us  thank  them  for  giving  us  this  glimpse  of  the  friendship 
existing  between  two  men  so  interesting  to  us  as  John  Bunyan 
and  "William  Dell. 

It  was  in  the  year  in  which  he  preached  in  Yelden  church, 
the  last  before  his  imprisonment,  that  Bunyan  made  his  fourth 
appearance  as  an  author.  The  book  Avas  entitled  "  The  Doctrine 
of  the  Law  and  Grace  unfolded."  *  The  well-known  bookseller, 
Thomason,  who  made  the  collection  of  books  and  pamphlets 
now  in  the  King's  Library,  marked  this  work  as  coming  out  in 
May,  1G59.  It  was  the  outcome  of  Bunyan's  experience  and 
of  his  preaching  in  the  second  stage  of  his  life  as  a  teacher,  of 
which  he  says  that,  after  he  had  gone  forth,  for  the  space  of 
two  years,  crying  out  against  men's  sins,  the  Lord  came  in 
upon  his  soul  with  some  staid  peace  and  comfort  through 
Christ :  "  Wherefore  now  I  altered  in  m}'  preaching  (for  still 
I  preached  what  I  saw  and  felt)  ;  now,  therefore,  I  did  much 
labour  to  hold  forth  Jesus  Christ  in  all  His  Offices,  Relations, 
and  Benefits  imto  the  ^Vorld."  This  is  really  the  substance 
of  this  work  of  his  on  Law  and  Grace,  the  last  of  his  books 
before  his  prison  life.  It  is  marked  by  firm  grasp  of  faith  and 
a  strong,  clear  view  of  the  reality  of  Christ's  person  and  work 
as  the  one  Priest  and  ^Icdiator  for  a  sinful  world.  There  are 
in  it,  as  in  some  other  of  his  writings,  telling  references  to  his 
own  experience,  showing  how  he  had  himself  gone  through  all 
the  struggles  of  doubt  right  up  to  the  daylight  of  faith,  in 
which,  as  he  says,  "  I  saw  through  grace  that  it  was  the  blood 
shed  on  Mount  Calvary  that  did  save  and  redeem  sinners  as 
clearly  and  as  really  with  the  cj'es  of  my  soul  as  ever  raethought 
I  hud  seen  a  penny  loaf  bought  with  a  penny."  Laden  wiih 
sin  he  had  found  that  "  when  tears  would  not  do,  prayers 
would  not  do,  repenting  and  all  other  things  would  not  reach 
my  heart,  then  the  blood  let  out  with  the  8j)ear  hath  in  a  very 
blessed  muTiner  delivered  mo."  And  while  ho  thus  speaks  of 
Christ  with  boldness,  ho  still  speaks  of  himself  with  that  deep 

•  The  Doctrine  of  the  Law  and  Grace  inifdldid.  l'ul)linhod  hy  tli;it  I'oor  iinJ 
Conternjitible  Creuture  John  Iluin/nn  of  Jlrd/ord.  Londoti  :  I'riiitcil  fur  M. 
Wright,  at  tho  Hiffn  of  tho  Kiiif^'H  Hwid  in  tho  old  Iliiiloy,  IGoi). 

yii/oriad  i  al/iraifitirfh  y  ddan  Gyfammod.  Ciurfyrddiii,  1707,  l'--'-  '  f  «i7 
argraphxad,"  &c.     Trifi<cu,  1781,  12". 


126  JOHN  BJJNYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

humility  whicli  marked  him  to  the  end  of  his  life.  Almost 
with  pathos  he  pleads  for  his  readers'  prayers.  "  Christians," 
says  he  in  the  epistle  which  was  prefixed  as  a  foreword,  "  pray 
for  me  to  our  God,  with  much  earnestness,  fervency,  and  fre- 
quently, in  all  your  knockings  at  our  Father's  door,  because  I 
do  very  much  stand  in  need  thereof,  for  my  work  is  great,  my 
heart  is  vile,  the  devil  lieth  at  watch,  the  world  would  fain  be 
saying,  Aha,  aha,  thus  would  we  have  it !  and  of  myself,  keep 
myself  I  cannot,  trust  myself  I  dare  not ;  if  God  do  not  help 
me  I  am  sure  it  will  not  be  long  before  my  heart  deceive, 
and  the  world  have  their  advantage  of  me." 

It  may  be  well  now  to  close  the  story  of  the  first  five  years 
of  Bunyan's  life  in  Bedford  by  returning  to  the  Records  of  the 
Church  in  1657,  when  we  left  the  brethren  concerned  about 
Cromwell's  Kingship,  and  continuing  them  to  1660,  when  the 
Restoration  brought  back  a  king  of  quite  other  sort  to  the 
Lord  Protector. 


(< 


1657.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Church  the  27th  of  y^  6th  moneth  : 
[27th  Sept.]  our  bro :  John  Whiteman  was  received  into  full  corn- 
union  with  this  congregation.  Whereas  there  hath  heretofore 
bene  time  spent  in  seeking  God  to  direct  us  in  the  choyce  of  officers 
necessary  for  the  Congregation,  according  to  the  order  of  the  Gros- 
peU ;  and  whereas  heretofore  there  were  nominated,  and  appointed 
for  tryall  our  bro  :  Spensely,  bro  :  Bunyan,  bro  :  Coven  ton,  and  bro : 
Robert  Wallis  ;  to  exercise  the  office  of  deacons  ;  and  bro  :  Bunyan 
being  taken  off  by  the  preaching  of  the  Gospell :  We  are  agreed  : 
That  bro  :  Bunyan  being  otherwise  imployed,  our  other  three 
brethren  before-named  be  continued  :  and  upon  farther  debate  and 
good  consideration,  have  also  made  free  choyce  of  our  bro  :  John 
ffenne  to  be  joyned  with  them  :  and  that  at  the  next  meeting  God 
be  sought  to  by  the  Church  upon  his  behalfe,  that  he  with  the 
other  may  be  directed  in  their  worke. 

"It  is  agreed  that  next  5th  day  of  the  week  be  set  apart  to 
joyne  in  prayer  with  the  rest  of  our  brethren  in  y*"  three  nations; 
according  to  tlie  motion  made  by  bro  :  Jesse  and  others  with  him. 

"13th  of  the  9th  moneth  [13th  Dec.].  This  day  fortnight  was 
set  apart  to  seek  the  Lord  in  by  prayer  ;  and  to  returne  praise  to 
him  for  his  appearances  with  our  brethi-en  in  their  preaching  the 
Gospell. 

"  Latter  part  of  the  10th  moneth  [Jan.].  It  was  agreed  that  the 
14th  of   the  next  moneth  be  set  apart  to  seek  the  Lord  for  the 


16o8-9.]    FirEYFABS  OF  BEDFORD  LIFF:  \655-l660.     127 

carrying:  on  of  his  worke  in  the  nation  ;  and  for  the  bringing  fortli 
of  many  soules  that  seeme  to  be  brought  to  the  birth;  and.  for  our 
friends  that  are  ill. 

"25th  of  the  12th  moncth  [2oth  March]:  Upon  the  relation  of 
the  bretliren  sent  to  bro  :  Skolton,  the  Chui-ch  still  reniainiu<r  dis- 
satisfyed,  did  appoint  bro :  Bunyan  and  bro  :  Childe  farther  to 
■  speak  with  him.  And  bro  :  Bunyan  and  bro  :  Samuell  ffenne  were 
appointed  to  go  againe  to  Sister  Chamberlaine.  It  is  also  agreed 
that  the  3rd  day  of  the  next  moneth  be  set  apart  to  secke  God  iu 
the  behalf  of  our  bro :  "Wheeler  who  hath  bene  long  ill  in  body, 
whereby  his  ministeiy  hath  bene  hindered,  and  also  about  y=  Church 
aifaires,  and  the  affaires  of  the  Nation,  and  for  our  bro  :  Whit- 
bread,  who  hath  been  long  ill :  and  also  for  counsaile  what  to  doe 
with  respect  to  the  indictment  against  bro  :  Bunyan  at  y<-'  Assizes 
for  preaching  at  Eaton. 

"  1G58.  29th  of  the  2nd  moneth  [29th  May]:  It  was  agreed 
that  bro :  Burton  and  bro :  Harrington  do  speake  with  Sister  Wit 
about  her  withdrawing  from  the  ordinances  of  Christ  in  y*  church. 
Bro  :  Bunyan  and  bro  :  Childe  having  neglected  to  spoake  with 
Sister  Chamberlaine  and  bro  :  Skelton  ;  were  againe  reminded  of  it 
and  required  to  take  care  of  it  against  next  meeting. 

"  It  was  agreed  that  the  10th  of  the  next  moneth  be  set  apart  to 
seeke  the  Lord  in  regard  of  his  hand  both  at  home  and  abroad 
whicli  is  stretched  out  in  visiting  many  with  sickness. 

"  It  was  agreed  that  letters  be  written  to  those  friends  related  to 
US  now  walking  (with  our  consent)  with  other  congregations  for 
their  farther  edification. 

"3Uth  of  the  7th  moneth  [30th  Oct.]:  For  the  continuing  of 
unity,  and  preventing  of  differences  among  the  congregations  walk- 
ing with  Mr.  iJunnv,  ilr.  Wheeler,  and  Mr.  Gibbes  and  ourselves  : 
it  was  agreed  that  bro  :  Burton,  bro  :  Grew,  bro  :  Harrington,  bro  : 
Whiteuiun,  and  bro  :  Bunyan  sliould  w"'in  few  dayes  meet  together 
to  consider  of  some  things  that  may  conduce  to  Love  and  unity 
amongst  uh  all. 

"27th  of  y-^  lltli  moneth  [27tli  Fcl).]  :  By  the  bntliren  now 
assembh'd  and  by  the  papers  containing  the  Votes  of  those  absent 
our  br<j :  Grow  and  bro  :  Whitemau  were  chosen  elders. 

"  Whereas  our  bro  :  Bunyan  liatli  spoken  with  bro :  Childe  to 
come  and  render  a  reason  of  liis  withdrawing  to  some  of  the  l)rethren 
and  ho  refus(;tli  to  do  it  unh;s8  lie  may  coine  before  the  whole  con- 
gregation ;  we  are  agreed  ho  have  notice  given  liim  to  come  to 
the  next  Church  meeting.  Tliero  liaving  bono  some  meetings  of 
the  friends  of  the  sevorall  adjacent  Congregations  to  conforro  of 


128  JOHN  BUXYAN.  [chap.  vi. 

some  things  for  tlie  furthering  of  unity  and  love  amongst  us,  and 
another  meeting  being  appointed  for  the  finishing  of  some  conclu- 
sions to  that  end ;  we  do  agree  that  bro  :  Bunyan,  bro  :  Grew,  bro  : 
Harrington  do  meet  with  the  brethren  of  the  other  Churches  about 
this  matter. 

"  1659.  30th  of  the  4th  moneth  [30  July]  :  We  are  agreed  to 
meet  next  2nd  day  of  the  weeke  to  seek  the  Lord  for  our  bro : 
Burton  in  respect  of  that  weakenes  which  the  Lord  hath  for  some 
time  exercised  him  with. 

"  27th  of  the  7th  moneth  [27th  Oct) :  We  are  agreed  to  set  apart 
the  5th  of  the  next  moneth  to  seeke  the  Lord  in  prayer  for  the 
giving  in  assistance  to  our  bro :  Burton,  for  the  teaching  of  the 
Word,  as  also  to  blesse  God  for  our  late  deliverance,  &c. 

"Latter  part  of  the  8th  moneth  [Nov.]:  The  4th  day  of  the 
next  moneth  was  appointed  to  be  kept  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving : 
but  it  was  ordered  that  the  last  day  of  this  moneth  should  be  first 
spent  in  solemne  seeking  God  for  the  nation,  &c. 

"  Latter  part  of  the  9th  moneth  [Dec] :  Whereas  in  regard  of 
the  weakenes  of  our  bro  :  Burton  and  the  great  burthen  of  preach- 
ing and  caring  for  the  Church  that  lyes  upon  him,  the  Lord  hath 
put  into  our  heartes  to  seeke  to  him  for  direction,  to  leade  us  to 
some  fitt  person  to  be  an  assistant  to  him  in  this  great  worke  :  In 
order  thereunto  we  are  agreed  that  the  Elders  and  Deacons,  upon 
the  next  day  of  prayer,  to  be  the  7th  of  the  10th  moneth  [7th  Jan.] 
do  consider  thereof  ;  that  letters  be  sent  (according  to  the  advice  of 
our  brethren  of  the  adjacent  churches)  to  Mr.  Simson,  Mr.  Jesse 
and  Mr.  Cockin ;  for  their  assistance  and  furtherance  in  our 
inquiring  out  such  an  able  godly  man  as  may  be  suitable  for  our 
help. 

"29th  of  the  10th  moneth  [29th  Jan.]:  It  was  appointed  that 
every  monethly  meeting  some  of  our  brethren :  viz.  one  at  a  time, 
to  whom  the  Lord  may  have  given  a  gift,  be  called  forth  and 
incouraged  to  speake  a  word  in  the  Church  for  our  mutuall  edifica- 
tion ;  And  that  one  of  the  brethren  be  desired  to  begin  next  meet- 
ing. And  that  every  3rd  monethly  meeting  especially  aU  our 
brethren  and  sisters  be  desired  to  come  together  without  any  delay 
or  excuse.  We  are  agreed  to  set  apart  the  5th  day  of  the  next 
weeke  to  seeke  the  Lord  especially  upon  the  account  of  the  distrac- 
tions of  the  nation. 

"  1660.  29th  of  the  1st  moneth  [29th  April].  We  are  agreed 
considering  our  bro  :  Burton's  weakenes  to  entreat  our  bro  :  Wheeler, 
Bro  :  Donne,  Bro  :  Gibbes  and  bro  :  Breeden  to  give  their  assistance 
in  the  work  of  God  in  preaching  and  breaking  of  bread  once  every 


1660.]     FIVE  TEARS   OF  BEDFORD  LIFE:  1655-1660.     129 

moneth  or  3  weekcs  one  after  another  on  the  Lord's  dayes  during^ 
the  time  of  his  weakenes. 

"The  16th  day  of  the  next  men:  ^vas  appointed  to  be  spent  in 
seeking  God  with  reference  to  the  affaii-es  of  the  nation,  and  the 
■weakenes  of  our  bro  :  Burton. 

'•  25th  of  the  "ind  moneth  [25th  May]  :  "\Ve  are  agreed  that  our 
meetings  on  the  2ud  day  of  the  week  begin  henceforth  at  noone  and 
that  the  time  be  spent  in  prayer. 

"It  was  ordered  according  to  our  agreement  that  our  bro: 
Bunyan  be  prepared  to  speake  a  word  to  us  at  the  next  Cliurch 
meeting  and  that  our  bro  :  AVhiteman  faile  not  to  speake  to  liim 
of  it. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Church  the  latter  part  of  the  Gth  moni>tli 
[Sept.]  :  Whereas  the  Lord  hath  taken  to  himself  our  teacher  bro  : 
Burton,  we  are  agreed  to  set  apart  the  17th  of  the  next  moneth  to 
seek  to  the  Lord  for  direction  in  our  advising  and  considering  of  a 
Pastor  or  Teacher  suitable  for  us,  and  that  our  friends  be  verj' 
earnest  with  the  rest  of  our  brethren  and  sisters  to  give  their 
assistance  in  this  worke  according  to  our  duty. 

"We  desire  our  bro:  Harrington,  bro:  Coventon,  bro:  John 
ffenne  to  take  care  to  informe  tliomselves  of  a  convenient  place  for 
our  meeting  so  soone  as  they  can  (we  being  now  deprived  of  our 
former  place)  and  reporte  it  to  y"  Church." 

•  •»«»• 

Thus  dark  and  {jloomv  was  the  outlook  for  the  Church  at 
Bedford  in  the  autumn  days  of  IGGO.  Their  minister  was 
taken  away  from  them  by  death,  and  their  church  building  by 
the  Restoration  of  King  Charles,  They  must  now  seek  another 
pastor  and  another  place  of  meeting.  Their  hearts  were  soro 
and  sorrowful.  They  would  have  been  sorer  still,  and  yet 
more  sorrowful,  could  these  brethren  have  seen  beforehand  tluii 
long  wilderness  march  through  twelve  years  of  persecution 
which  lay  between  the  farewell  to  St.  John's  and  the  then  dis- 
tant day  when  the  Church  should  onco  more  have  a  meeting 
place  of  its  own. 


YII. 

HARLINGTON  HOUSE  AND  THE  CHAPEL  OF  HERNE. 

The  removal  of  Cromwell  by  death  was  the  removal  of  the  one 
strong  man  alone  capable  of  controlling  the  conflicting  forces  of 
the  Commonwealth.  Richard  Cromwell  succeeded  to  the  position 
of  Lord  Protector,  but  not  to  the  inheritance  of  his  father's  genius, 
and  in  eight  months  had  vanished  into  private  life  again,  glad,  in 
his  easygoing  way,  to  be  rid  of  the  trouble  of  ruling  a  nation  he 
was  not  strong  enough  to  govern.  The  Army  party  having  dis- 
posed of  him,  restored  the  Parliament  his  father  had  dismissed 
in  1653.  It  was  not,  however,  the  representative  body  it  had 
been  when  elected  in  1640.  It  had  not  been  before  its  con- 
stituents for  twenty  years ;  many  of  its  original  members  had 
been  set  aside  by  unconstitutional  means,  and  when  the  House 
was  called,  forty-two  Members  were  all  that  could  be  mus- 
tered ;  at  no  period,  indeed,  of  its  now  renewed  session  were 
there  ever  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  belonging  to 
it.  Nothing  could  be  said  for  it  except  that  it  was  in  power, 
and  its  continued  existence  naturally  caused  grave  dissatisfac- 
tion in  the  nation. 

Still  there  were  some  willing  to  hope  good  of  it.  Six  weeks 
after  it  met,  a  petition  was  presented  "  from  divers  Freeholders 
and  others  well  affected  to  the  Commonwealth  of  England, 
within  the  county  of  Bedford,"  who  desire  as  they  say  to  stir 
up  the  flagging  zeal  of  Parliament  that  it  may  set  about  the 
removal  of  Tithes,  the  reformation  of  Courts  of  Law,  the  secu- 
ring of  Religious  Toleration,  so  that  no  man  may  be  imprisoned, 
or  his  goods  distrained  without  the  breach  of  some  known  law. 
The  petitioners  further  pray  that  the  militia  may  be  placed  only 
in  the  hands  of  persons  faithful  to  the  good  old  cause,  and 
finally  express  the  opinion  that  if  their  petition  be  not  granted 


1 660. ]  HA  RLIXG  TOX  IIO  USE.  1 3 1 

the  Parliament  will  find  their  places  as  slippery  to  tliem  as  they 
were  to  those  who  went  before  them.*  This  petition  went  up 
on  the  17th  June,  and  on  the  27th,  Parliament  practically 
declined  to  accede  to  its  prayer  so  far  as  interference  with 
Cromwell's  State  Church  was  concerned,  voting:  that  tithes 
shall  continue  to  be  paid  as  they  now  are,  "  unless  this  Par- 
liament shall  find  out  some  other  and  more  equal  and  comfort- 
able maintenance."  This  Parliament  had  not  much  time  to 
find  out  anything,  for  having  taken  the  Army  in  hand  it  was 
in  turn  taken  in  hand  by  the  Army  and  dismissed  by  a  coup 
d'etat,  under  Lambert,  on  the  13th  October.  Then,  under 
the  Wallingford  House  Government,  the  Army  was  supreme, 
but  not  for  long.  The  Monday  after  the  Christmas  Day  falling 
on  that  Sunday  on  which  Bunyan  was  preaching  in  Yelden 
church,  General  Monk  set  up  the  Rump  Parliament  once  more, 
the  soldiers  and  the  populace  cheering  them  as,  the  mace  being 
carried  before  them,  they  walked  from  "Whitehall  to  "West- 
minster. 

But  all  this  could  not  alter  the  fact  that  they  did  not  fairly 
represent  the  nation,  and  that  they  had  kept  out  of  the  Chamber 
men  whom  the  nation  had  elected.     Bedfordshire  was  naturally 
discontented,  for  not  one  of  its  representatives  was  there.     Sir 
Samuel  Luke  had  been  excluded  by  the  test  of  1648  as  a  Pres- 
bvterian  ;  Sir  Beauchamp   St.  John   was  outside,  so  were  Sir 
John  Burgoyne  and  Sir  Oliver  Luke.     In  the  montli  of  Feb- 
ruary, l(jOi)-00  a  public  meeting  was  called  from  which  there 
went  up  a   "  Declaration  of  the    Gentlemen    Freeholders  and 
Inhabitants  of  the  county  of  Bedford,"  of  no  mild  or  measured 
8ort.     They  say  that  being  "truly  sensible  of  the  heavy  pres- 
sure we  lye  under,  liavin;,'  all  our  Civill  and  Beligious  liights 
and  Liberties  daily  invaded  they  cannot  in  this  common  day  of 
calamity  be  silent,  but  with  the  rest  of  the  nation  make  some 
enquiry  after  the  way  of  Peace  and  Settlement."     They  ask  for 
"the  Assembly  of  a  full  and  free  Parliament  without  any  <  )aths 
or  Ilngagements  or  (pialifications  whatsoever,  saving  what  was 
in  the  year  1018  before  the  force  put  upon  Parliament,  or  the  re- 
admitting of  tlio  secluded  members  to  the  e.vecution  ol'  their 

•  Broadside,  liritiHli  Muiivuiii,  '    '  "- 

ol 


132  JOHN  BUN Y AN.  [chap.  vii. 

trusts."  In  a  very  resolute  spirit  these  people  of  Bedfordshire 
go  on  to  say:  "Until  one  of  these  be  done  we  do  declare  we 
shall  not  hold  ourselves  engaged  to  pay  the  taxes  imposed  upon 
us  without  our  consent  so  first  had  in  Parliament."  '" 

A  month  later  the  House  was  dissolved  by  its  own  consent 
and  a  new  Parliament  summoned.  When  that  new  Parliament 
met,  on  the  25th  April,  it  was  clear  beyond  all  doubt  that  a 
great  change  had  come  over  the  feeling  of  the  nation.  All  were 
weary  of  the  perpetual  see-saw  which  had  been  going  on  be- 
tween the  Army  and  the  Parliament  ever  since  Cromwell's 
death.  The  very  Oliverians  were  becoming  Royalist  in  their 
sympathies,  and  men  of  diversified  opinion  were  beginning  to 
think  that  it  might  be  best  after  all  to  bring  back  the  king  and 
come  to  honourable  terms  if  they  could.  Even  in  Bedfordshire, 
where  at  one  time  the  Royal  cause  had  been  hopeless,  a  great 
change  had  come  over  the  public  mind.  Of  the  four  members 
Avho  went  up  to  this  Convention  Parliament  two  were  Royalists. 
From  county  and  borough  alike  the  Members  were  one  and 
one.  For  the  county,  Samuel  Browne,  who  had  been  in  the 
Cromwellian  Parliament  of  1658,  had  for  his  colleague  Lord 
Bruce  of  Ampthill,  a  strong  Royalist,  who  was  afterwards 
among  the  peers  and  commoners  who  went  over  to  the  Hague 
to  solicit  the  king's  return ;  and  Sir  Samuel  Luke,  represent- 
ing the  borough,  was  accompanied  by  Sir  Humphrey  Winch, 
who  like  Lord  Bruce,  was  a  Royalist,  and  who,  on  the  elevation 
of  the  latter  to  the  peerage,  as  the  Earl  of  Ailesbury,  in  1661, 
took  his  place  as  Member  for  the  county.  Lord  Bruce  long 
previous  to  his  election  had  been  carrying  on  negotiations 
with  the  king  at  the  Hague.  An  inscription  in  Millbrook 
Church,  over  George  Lawson,  one  of  the  rectors,  which  was 
set  up  by  his  lordship  himself,  tells  how  Lawson  had  been 
employed  by  him,  "  in  several  messages  in  order  to  the  king's 
restoration." 

It  is  not  wonderful,  therefore,  that  the  new  Parliament  soon 
declared  itself  in  favour  of  the  king's  return,  and,  as  all  the 
world  knows,  the  next  month  the  king  came  back,  the  pent-up 
feeling  finding  vent  in  a  perfect  delirium  of  loyally.     During 

•  Broadside,   British  Museum,  --^IV 

00. 


1 6G0. ]  nA  RLIXG  TON  BO  USE.  1 33 

the  royal  progress  to  London,  the  long  highway  of  twenty-five 
miles  iVoni  liochestcr  to  "Whitehall,  was  lined  on  both  sides 
with  acclaiming  multitudes,  so  that  it  seemed  "  one  continuous 
street  wonderfully  inhabited,"  *  while  all  the  countiy  through 
there  were  proclamations  and  reproclamations,  peals  of  bell- 
ringing,  bonfires  and  shouting  mobs,  public  feasts,  and  conduits 
running  with  wine. 

The  king  entered  London  on  the  21Hh  Maj',  and  as  early 
as  the  month  of  June  Parliament  proceeded  to  deal  with  the 
regicides  who  had  put  his  father  to  death.  There  were  eleven 
of  these  for  whom  there  was  to  be  no  mercy — those  who  had 
sat  in  judgment  on  the  late  king,  and  who  had  not  delivered 
themselves  up  within  the  fourteen  days  allowed  by  the  king's 
proclamation.  Two  of  the  eleven  were  Bedfordshire  men. 
Colonel  John  Okey  of  Brogborough,  and  Sir  Michael  Livesey 
of  Puddington.  They  had  both  been  present  when  sentence 
against  the  king  was  declared,  and  they  had  both  signed  his 
death- warrant  afterwards.  For  them,  they  themselves  knew 
full  well,  there  could  be  no  hope  of  clemency  or  spared  life,  and 
they  left  the  country.  Of  Sir  Michael  Livesey,  nothing 
farther  seems  to  be  known.  Colonel  Okey  fled  to  Delft,  in 
Holland,  where  he  was  living  under  an  assumed  name,  when, 
two  years  later,  through  the  activity  of  Sir  George  Downing, 
the  English  ambassador,  he  was  arrested  along  with  two  other 
regicide  fugitives,  Barkstead  and  Corbet,  and  in  spite  of  some 
demur  on  the  part  of  the  Dutch  was  shipped  to  London  in  a 
frigate.  Taken  from  the  Tower  on  a  sledge,  all  three  were 
hanged,  drawn  and  (juartered  ut  Tyburn  on  Saturday,  the  I'Jth 
April,  ltj(J2.  Downing  got  not  much  credit  for  liis  part  in 
this  matter,  for  even  round  the  gallows  at  Tyburn  the  people 
were  telling  how  ut  one  time  he  "owed  his  bread"  to  Okey, 
having  begun  life  as  a  chaplain  in  Okey's  dragoon  regiment, 
and  80,  as  old  Pepys  tells  us  "  all  the  world  takes  notice  of  him 
for  a  most  ungrateful  vilhiin  for  his  puins." 

Wlien  the  question  of  the  regicides  had  been  dealt  with  in 
Parliament,  and  also  the  subject  of  Supply  and  Jtevenuc,  there 
came  the  more  vast  and  momentous  (jueslion  of  the  Church. 
The  great  body  of  the  members  of  llie  Convention  Parliament 

•  iIuiw<*ii'H  Mxltun,  vi.  0. 


134  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap,  vii, 

of  1660,  though  Royalist  in  sympathy  were  Presbyterian  in 
ecclesiastical  opinion,  and  they  had  committed  the  great  blunder 
of  letting  the  king  come  back  without  imposing  upon  him  any 
conditions  whatever.  At  first  the  intention  was  to  negotiate 
with  him  at  the  Hague  on  the  basis  of  the  conditions  ofiered 
to  his  father  in  the  Treaty  of  Newport,  in  1648,  by  which  the 
return  of  prelacy  would  have  been  prevented  and  a  Presbyterian 
Church  Establishment  made  permanent.  While  he  was  still 
in  Holland,  Charles  might  probably  have  consented  to  this,  but 
once  he  was  in  England  the  tide  of  popular  feeling  swept  on  in 
full  stream,  and  it  was  then  too  late.  There  was  nothing  left 
but  the  king's  own  voluntary  declaration,  at  Breda,  promising 
liberty  to  tender  consciences,  and  giving  assurance  that  no 
man  should  be  disquieted  or  called  in  qixestion  for  differences 
of  opinion  in  matters  of  religion  which  do  not  disturb  the  peace 
of  the  kingdom.  This,  in  the  lips  of  a  king  like  Charles  II., 
might  mean  much  or  little  according  to  circumstances,  and  there 
was  one  man  with  the  king  who  had  shared  his  exile  and  had 
great  ascendancy  over  him,  who  had  resolved  that  it  should 
mean  very  little  indeed,  and  certainly  should  not  be  permitted 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  restoration  of  Episcopacy  along  with 
the  restoration  of  the  monarchy.  This  was  Hyde,  afterwards 
Lord  Clarendon.  Whether  Charles  knew  his  own  mind  or  not, 
this  man  knew  his,  and  never  for  a  moment  did  he  waver  or  by 
so  much  as  a  hair's  breadth  swerve  from  the  policy  of  reviving 
the  Episcopal  Church  as  it  existed  in  England  before  the  Civil 
War  began. 

It  is  true  there  was  much  talk  in  the  air  about  the  compre- 
hension of  Presbyterians  in  the  National  Church,  but  on  the 
part  of  the  king  and  Hyde  it  was  never  intended  to  be  more 
than  talk  ;  there  was  even  conference  as  to  mutual  concession, 
which  from  the  first  meant  concession  only  on  the  side  of  the 
Presbyterians.  Meantime,  while  meaningless  talk  went  forward 
in  one  direction,  decisive  action  was  going  forward  in  another. 
The  old  Episcopal  clergy  were  coming  forward  by  scores, 
claiming  to  be  reinstated  in  the  livings  from  which  they  had 
been  sequestered  ;  and  before  Parliament  separated,  on  the  13th 
September,  an  Act  was  passed  for  the  confirming  and  restoring 
of  ministers,   and    providing    that  all    "formerly   ejected   or 


1660.]  IIARLIXGTOX  norSE.  135 

sequestered  ministers  "  still  surviving  sliould  re-enter  upon  the 
possession  of  their  benefices. 

During  the  Parliamentary  recess,  which  extended  from  Sep- 
tember 13th  to  November  Gth,  matters  moved  on  apace.  In 
Bedfordshire  the  county  magistrates,  in  Quarter  Sessions 
at  Bedford,  issued  an  order  "  for  the  publick  reading  of  the 
I-iturgy  of  the  Church  of  England,"  and  the  following  Sunday 
William  Annand,  the  minister  of  Leighton  Buzzard,  preached, 
and  afterwards  published  two  sermons  to  conciliate  the  minds 
of  his  parishioners  in  favour  of  the  "  Book  of  Common  Prayer."* 
These  sermons  he  dedicates  "  To  the  ^lost  Noble  and  Right 
Honourable  Patriots,  the  Lords,  Knights  and  Gentlemen, 
Justices  of  the  Peace  for  the  County  of  Bedford,"  the  writer 
hoping  they  will  give  protection  to  this  tender  j)lant,  not 
yet  ten  days  old,  since  their  order  was  the  sole  and  only 
cause  of  its  production.  Five  days  later,  on  the  17th  October, 
for  the  first  time  for  many  years,  a  new  Bishop  of  Lincoln  was 
elected.  Thomas  Winnifi'e,  who  was  elected  in  1642,  had  only 
held  the  position  for  a  few  months,  when  Episcopacy  was  over- 
thrown by  the  Long  Parliament,  and  he  retired  to  Lambourne, 
in  Essex,  where  he  died  in  1658,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 
The  See  of  Lincoln  had,  therefore,  been  practically  vacant  for 
sixteen  years,  and  actually  vacant  for  two  years  more,  when  on 
the  17th  October,  1660,  llobert  Sanderson  was  elected  Bishop, 
and  a  week  later  consecrated.  lie  was  then  an  old  man  of 
seventy-three,  but  when  some  weeks  afterwards  he  made  public 
entry  into  the  town  of  Bedford,  which  had  almost  forgotten 
what  a  bishop  was  like,  it  was  more  after  the  manner  of  a  vic- 
torious general  than  of  that  of  a  bishop  of  the  Church,  the 
trained  bands,  as  he  paesed,  "  giving  a  handsome  volley,"  and 
then  "  a  second  sfilute  with  their  muskets."  f 

This  "handsome  volley,"  followed  by  this  "second  saluU  " 
of  musketry  in  Bedford  streets,  came  strangely  upon  the  ears 
of  another  bishojj,  who  happened  just  then  to  have  been 
recently    hjdged    in    Bedford    gaol.      John    Bunyan    had   the 

•  Panrm  Qtmtidianum  :  or  a  Short  DiscourHo  to  prove  the  liOpiility,  Dorrnry, 
and  Kxixdifrrify  of  K«;t  FonriH  of  I'niiy'T.  Hy  Williiiin  Anniiud,  .M.A.,  MiuisttT 
of  I>;i^)ton  ]Si^tudi.-7.ort,  iu  Cum.,  liudfurd.     LuuduD,  IGUl. 

t  Mercuruts  I'ublictu, 


136 


JOEN  BUNYAN. 


[chap.  VII. 


honour  of  leading  the  van  of  those  who  suffered  for  conscience 
sake  in  the  reign  of  the  second  Charles.  Within  little  more 
than  a  month  of  the  passing  of  the  Order  of  the  Justices,  at 
Bedford,  for  the  restoration  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
that  is,  on  the  12th  November,  1660,  he  went  by  agreement 
to  hold  a  religious  service  at  the  little  hamlet  of  Lower  Samsell, 
by  Harlington,  about  thirteen  miles  from  Bedford,  to  the  south. 
This  hamlet  is  a  mile  distant  from  Harlington  church,  and  is 
situated  in  the  finely-wooded  and  undulating  country  which. 


{Mf:.  SharperJtoe 


Map   of    the   District.     Scale— One  inch,  to  a  mile. 


beginning  at  Ampthill  and  stretching  to  the  south  for  seven  or 
eight  miles,  forms  a  contrast  alike  to  the  flat  levels  of  the  north 
of  the  county  and  the  chalk  downs  of  the  south.  The  place 
where  the  service  was  to  be  held  was  a  farmhouse,  standing  in 
the  midst  of  a  field  thickly  surrounded  by  elm-trees,  except  on 
the  side  looking  towards  the  Barton  Hills.  We  can  with 
certainty  identify  the  spot,  for  the  present  occupier  of  the  land, 
Mr.  George  Smith  of  Westoning,  received  the  tradition  as  to 
the  site  from  his  father,  who  died  twenty  years  ago,  and  lived 
to  be  eighty-five,  the  farm  also  having  now  been  in  the  tenancy 


1660.] 


JIA  RLIXG  TOX  no  USE. 


V 


■>l 


of  his  family  altogether  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years.  The 
house  was  still  standing  in  his  father's  lifetime,  as  he  has  heard 
him  say,  but  it  has  long  since  disappeared.  Like  all  the  old 
houses  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  that  were  in  lonely 
situations,  it  was  defended  by  a  moat,  the  drawbridge  of  which 
could  be  lifted  at  night.  The  line  of  the  foundations  can  still 
be  traced,  and   the  moat  round   them,  and  near  by  also  still 


^ 


% 


-X 


r  •■  Site    ok    the  Cottage   at    Lower 
^'  <  Samsell  in  which  Bunyan 

WAS    AllllESTEn. 

stands,  though  pollard  and  stunted  now,  tlie  elm-tree,  llieii 
growing  on  the  edge  of  the  moat,  and  close  to  the  house,  when 
IJunyan  was  there.  In  the  same  field  tliero  was  an  old  haw- 
thorn-tree, beneath  the  sliade  of  which  Bunyan  is  said  to  liav(> 
often  stood  and  ])reach('d,  and  which  was  long  known  ti)  the 
pooj)lo  of  Samsell  aa  lUinyan's  thorn.  An  old  man  working 
on  the  farm  remcmbfrs  it  well ;  but  ago  and  decay  told  upon  it 
at  lust,  and  it  slowly  disappeared.     But  it  was  November  when 


138  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vii. 

Buriyan  paid  that  visit  to  the  place  with  which  we  are  now 
concerned,  and  therefore  the  service  was  not  this  time  to  be 
under  the  hawthorn-tree,  but  in  the  house  itself.  When 
he  reached  the  place  of  meeting,  several  of  the  friends  who 
were  to  form  his  congregation  were  already  gathered,  but  he 
felt  at  once  that  their  usual  glad  reception  was  wanting.  There 
were  anxious  looks  and  subdued  whisperings,  for  they  knew, 
what  as  yet  he  knew  not,  that  the  neighbouring  magistrate,  Mr. 
Francis  Wingate,  had  issued  a  warrant  against  him,  and  that 
if  he  persisted  in  preaching  he  was  to  be  arrested.  The 
brother,  at  whose  hovise  the  service  was  to  be  held,  ques- 
tioned the  wisdom  of  proceeding.  "  As  for  vay  friend,"  says 
Bunyan,  generously,  "  I  think  he  was  more  afraid  for  me  than 
for  himself."  But  Bunyan  had  no  fear  for  himself,  and  when 
the  people  suggested  the  desirability  of  setting  aside  the  service 
for  that  day,  he  promptly  exclaimed,  "  No,  by  no  means  ;  I  will 
not  stir,  neither  will  I  have  the  meeting  dismissed  for  this. 
Come,  be  of  good  cheer,  let  us  not  be  daunted.  Our  cause  is 
good,  we  need  not  be  ashamed  of  it ;  to  preach  God's  word  is 
so  good  a  work  that  we  shall  be  well  rewarded  even  if  we 
suffer  for  it." 

The  time  previously  fixed  for  the  service  not  being  yet  come, 
Bunyan  passed  out  of  the  house,  and  paced  the  field  by  which 
the  house  was  suri-ounded.  It  is  still  fringed  with  elm-trees, 
which  were  more  numerous  then,  and  beneath  the  leafless 
branches  he  passed  to  and  fro,  the  burden  of  grave  respon- 
sibility strong  upon  him.  His  thoughts,  he  tells  us,  were 
these  :  He  had  hitherto  showed  himself  hearty  and  courageous 
in  his  preaching,  and  through  God's  mercy  had  been  able  to 
encourage  others.  Were  he  now,  therefore,  to  turn  and  run, 
it  would  have  a  very  ill  look  in  the  country  round.  What 
would  the  new  converts  think  but  that  he  was  not  as  strong  in 
deed  as  he  was  in  word  ?  Besides,  if  he  ran  before  a  warrant, 
others  would  run  before  mere  words  and  threats.  If  God  in 
His  mercy  had  chosen  him  to  go  upon  a  forlorn  hope  in  the 
country,  had  honoured  him  to  be  the  first  that  should  be 
opposed  for  the  gospel,  and  he  should  fly,  this  would  be  a  dis- 
couragement to  the  whole  body  that  might  follow  after.  More- 
over, the  outside  world  would  certainly  take  occasion  from  such 


KiGO.]  IIARLIXGTOX  HOUSE.  139 

cowardliness  to  blaspheme  the  gospel,  and  to  suspect  worse  of 
him  and  his  profession  than  it  deserved.  ]}ack,  therefore,  to 
the  house  he  came,  with  mind  more  resolute  than  before.  There 
was  still  time  to  flee  if  to  flee  he  wished,  for  it  was  yet  a  full 
hour  before  the  constable  would  arrive ;  but  flee  he  would  not, 
being  resolved  to  see  the  utmost  of  what  they  could  say  or  do 
luito  him. 

Meantime  his  friends  were  gathering.  Along  the  path  by 
the  elm-trees  from  Ilarlington,  and  across  the  fields  from  Higher 
Samsell  and  Pulloxhill  on  one  side,  and  from  Westoniiig  and 
Flitwiek  on  the  other  they  came  to  the  meeting,  and  Bunyan 
began.  lie  began  with  prayer.  Prayer  was  always  a  real 
thing  to  him,  and  probably  never  more  real  than  then. 
Prayer  being  over  and  their  Bibles  opened,  Bunyan  was  pro- 
ceeding to  speak  to  the  people,  when  the  constable,  with  Mr. 
Wingate's  man,  came  in  upon  them,  ordering  him  to  stop  and 
go  with  them.  Bunj-an  turned  to  go,  but  as  he  did  so  he  begged 
the  people  not  to  be  discouraged,  for  it  was  a  mercy  to  suffer 
upon  so  good  an  account.  They  might,  he  said,  have  been  appre- 
hended as  thieves  or  murderers,  or  the  like,  but  blessed  be  God 
it  was  not  so  ;  they  were  only  suffering  as  Christians  for  well- 
doing ;  and,  after  all,  it  was  better  to  be  the  persecuted  than 
the  persecutors.  As  Bunyan  went  on  thus,  the  constable 
grew  impatient,  and  would  have  him  away ;  and  so  tbey 
left  the  house. 

Mr.  AVingate  not  being  at  home  that  day,  a  fri(Mid  of 
Bunyan'e,  possibly  some  neighbouring  farmer  of  substance, 
engaged  to  bring  him  to  the  constable  next  morning,  "other- 
wise," says  he,  "constable  must  have  charged  a  watch  with  me 
or  have  secured  me  some  other  ways,  my  crime  was  so  great." 

The  next  day  Bunyan  and  his  friend  went  first  to  the  con- 
stable, and  then  all  three  to  the  justice.  Their  path  led  through 
pleasant  fields  to  the  height  on  which  stands  Ilarlington  church, 
from  which  a  few  minutes'  walk  brought  them  lo  Mr.  Win- 
gate's  house.  It  is  a  (juaint  old  building,  witli  no  j)retension 
to  size  or  statelinesH,  standing  at  the  noitli-west  angle  of  the 
four  cross-roads.  At  that  time  it  was  entered,  not  on  the  south 
side  as  now,  but  through  a  heavy  gateway  at  the  front  of  tho 
house,  lu<jking  towards  the  old  vicarage  and  tho  chiinli.      Pur- 


140  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [cuap.  vii. 

tions  of  the  building  are  of  great  antiquity.  Till  lately  there 
was  a  plate  on  the  oldest  part  bearing  date  1396,  at  which  time  it 
was  passed  over  by  marriage  from  the  Bel  verge  family  to  a  Win- 
gate  of  the  neighbouring  village  of  Sharpenhoe.  The  Wingates 
of  Harlington  were  included  in  the  list  of  the  gentry  of  the  county 
at  the  Visitation  of  the  time  of  Henry  YI.,  but  they  were  not 
lords  of  the  manor,  and  their  estate  was  never  more  than  of  the 
most  modest  dimension.  The  old  house  had  once  the  honour 
of  receiving  King  Charles  II.  as  guest  on  a  flying  visit,  and 
the  china  bowl  with  blue  dragons  round  it,  out  of  which  the 
king  is  said  to  have  breakfasted,  is  still  preserved  as  a  family 
relic.  In  the  roof  of  one  of  the  gables  there  is  a  curious  hiding- 
place,  which  may  have  done  good  service  to  fugitive  Royalists 
in  the  stormy  days  of  civil  war. 

Francis  Wingate,  with  whom  we  are  now  concerned,  suc- 
ceeded to  the  estate  as  a  minor,  and  while  a  mere  boy  in  his 
teens  had  married  Lettice  Pierce,  the  daughter  of  the  vicar  of 
Hitchin  ;  so  that  when  Bunyan  appeared  before  him,  though 
both  men  were  born  in  the  same  year,  and  neither  of  them 
many  years  over  thirty,  Wingate  had  nine  children  in  his 
house,  ranging  from  Mistress  Lettice,  a  young  damsel  of  fifteen, 
down  to  the  newly-born  babe,  just  christened  Charles  in  honour 
of  the  king.  There  is  no  portrait  of  Wingate  himself,  but  there 
is  a  fine  portrait  of  his  son,  Sir  Francis,  by  Sir  Peter  Lely  ;  and 
if  father  and  son  were  at  all  alike,  Francis  Wingate's  face 
showed  strength  of  will  and  a  dash  of  haughtiness  rather  than 
intellectual  force,  and  indicated  a  considerable  liking  for  the 
good  things  of  this  life. 

The  examination  of  his  memorable  prisoner  would  take  place 
in  the  hall,  wider  then  than  now,  or  in  the  great  parlour,  as  it 
was  called — an  apartment  with  panelled  walls  and  low  ceiling, 
having  oaken  cross-beams  centred  by  a  carved  rose  boss.  As  soon 
as  prisoner  and  magistrate  stood  face  to  face,  Wingate  asked 
the  constable  what  the  people  were  doing  when  he  made  the 
arrest,  wishing,  as  Bunyan  suggests,  to  throw  out  the  suspicion 
that  they  had  come  together  armed  and  for  unlawful  purposes. 
When,  however,  the  constable  quietly  replied  that  there  were 
only  a  few  people  met  together  to  hear  the  preacher,  and  no  sign 
of  anything  further,  he  knew  not  what  to  say.  The  truth  was,  he 


1000.] 


HAJ^LIXGTOy  HOUSE. 


141 


had  acted  in  unnecessary  haste  and  shown  uncalled-for  zeal.  It 
cannot  be  said  he  had  no  alternative  but  to  act  as  he  did.  No 
new  law  had  been  enacted  and  no  overt  act  committed  when  he 
issued  his  warrant.  He  had  to  fall  back  on  the  old  statute  of 
3-5  Elizabeth.  It  is  true  that  the  Parliament  recently  called  to 
AVcstmiuster  was  Royalist  in  its  sympathies,  but  it  is  equal! v 
true  that  it  was  largely  Presbyterian.  The  elections  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  no  doubt,  changed  all  that ;  but  in  November, 
UiGO,  it  was  still  unchanged.  The  king  had  made  from  Breda 
a  declaration,  promising  liberty  and  consideration  for  tender 
consciences,  and  there  was  still  some  hope  of  religious  comprehen- 


-t;»5iw5aijs* 


IIaRLINOTOX    IlotSE.       As    IT    AI'l'KAUEI)    I.N    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CeNTIKY. 

[from  an  Outline  Hkctch  in  the  possession  of  the  Aikinfamily.'\ 

sion  in  the  nation.  The  order  of  the  justices  in  Quarter  Session 
made  at  Bedford  the  previous  month  did  no  more  than  )  rox  ide 
for  the  restoration  to  the  churches  of  the  liook  of  Common 
Prayer;  and  the  Act  of  Uniformity  did  not  become  law  till  a 
year  and  a  half  later.  It  m.iy  be  d(jubted  whether  tlicre  was 
ancjthcr  Juhtice  the  country  through  in  such  eager  Imsto  as 
was  Francis  Wingate.  Perhaps  he  had  an  ancient  grudge  to 
feed.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  AVar,  liis  fatlier's  de.ith 
made  him  a  ward  of  the  Crown,  and  his  mother  took  him  to 
the  King's  (iuarters  ut  Oxford,  where  they  remained  with  the 


142  JOHX  BUNYAN.  [chap  vii. 

Eoyalists  from  September  to  February,  1642.  For  tbis  offence 
sbe  had  to  compound  witb  Parliament  for  such  portion  of  her 
estate  as  she  had  by  jointure,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  £100  to  the 
Committee  at  Goldsmith's  Hall.  After  her  subsequent  marriage 
with  Richard  Duncombe,  she  had  also  to  take  the  negative 
oath  and  sign  the  solemn  league  and  covenant.*  Possibly  her 
son  did  not  forget  this,  and  when  his  turn  came  he  was  eager 
to  avenge  the  past.  Indeed,  he  was  more  eager  than  wise.  It 
turned  out  that  he  was  singularly  unfortunate  in  his  very  first 
victim,  and  in  arresting  his  prisoner  he  for  all  time  pilloried 
himself. 

When  he  found  from  the  constable  that  the  gathering  at  Sam- 
sell  was  only  a  meeting  of  peaceable,  harmless  folk,  Wingate 
turned  toBunyan  and  asked  him  what  he  was  doing  there,  and 
why  he  did  not  mind  bis  own  business.  To  which  Bunyan 
modestly  replied  that  he  had  merely  come  to  instruct  the  people, 
get  them  to  forsake  their  sins,  and  close  in  with  Christ ;  and 
he  thought  he  could,  without  confusion,  both  follow  his  business 
and  preach  the  word.  Wingate  lost  his  temper  at  this,  and 
said  he  would  break  the  neck  of  these  meetings,  to  which 
Bunyan  simply  replied,  "  It  might  be  so." 
\  Upon  this  sureties  were  called,  were  immediately  forthcoming, 
.\nd  the  bond  was  drawn  up,  Wingate  emphatically  stating  that 
tl\e  prisoner  must  be  kept  from  preaching  till  his  appearance  at 
the  Sessions,  otherwise  the  bond  would  be  forfeited.  Hearino- 
this,  Bunyan  at  once  released  his  friends  from  all  farther 
responsibility,  saying  that  on  these  conditions  the  bond  was 
useless :  for  he  should  certainly  break  it,  he  could  not  leave 
off  speaking  the  word  of  God  ;  in  that  there  could  be  no  harm, 
and  it  was  a  work  to  be  rather  commended  than  blamed. 
This  decisive  utterance  put  an  end,  of  course,  to  all  farther 
parley,  and  Wingate  retired  to  draw  up  the  mittimus  for  Bed- 
ford gaol. 

While  he  was  absent,  in  came  one  whom  Bunyan 
describes  as  "  that  old  enemy  of  the  truth.  Dr.  Lindall." 
Lindall  was  vicar  of  Harlington,  where  he  had  been  the  last 
seventeen  years.  In  1635  he  had  been  curate  to  Mrs.  Wingate's 
father,  Dr.  Stephen  Pierce,  the  vicar  of  Hitchin,  and  after 
*  JioyaliHt  Composition  Papers,  G.  53;  No.  146,  p.  163. 


1(560.]  ITARLINGTOX  nOUSE.  I-13 


Pierce's  death  had  married  his  widow,  so  that  he  was  AVingate's 
father-in-law.  The  old  vicarage  was  only  about  two  minutes' 
walk  up  the  road  towards  the  church,  and  probably  having  some 
knowledge  of  what  was  going  forward  at  Wingate's  house, 
Lindall  came  in  to  give  this  tinker-preacher  a  piece  of  his 
mind.  He  commenced  taunting  the  prisoner  with  many  revil- 
ing terms.  Bunyan,  with  fitting  self-respect,  quietly  told  him 
in  reply  that  he  was  not  there  to  speak  with  him,  but  with  the 
Justice.  Lindall  then  angrily  asked  how  he  could  prove  that 
he  had  any  right  to  preach  ?  Bunyan  replied  that  he  had  the 
right  which  the  Apostle  Peter  gave  when  he  said,  "  As  every 
man  hath  received  the  gift,  even  so  let  him  minister  the  same." 
A  little  nonplussed  at  this,  Lindall  fell  into  that  abuse  which 
is  sometimes  the  refuge  of  men  foiled  in  argument,  and  said 
tauntingly  that  he  remembered  reading  of  one  Alexander,  a 
coppersmith,  who  did  much  oppose  and  disturb  the  Apostles — 
"Aiming,  'tis  like,  at  me,"  says  Bunyan,  "because  I  was  a 
Tinker."  Not  to  be  behindhand,  Bunyan  replied  that  he 
too  remembered  something  from  his  reading,  to  the  effect 
that  very  many  priests  and  pharisees  had  their  hands  in 
the  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  in  the  mood, 
he  tells  us,  for  going  a  little  further  still,  but  just  at  that 
moment  there  came  into  his  mind  the  passage,  "  Answer  not  a 
fool  according  to  his  folly  ;  "  and  after  that  he  was,  as  he 
says,  as  sparing  of  his  speech  as  he  could  bo  williout  prejudice 
to  the  truth. 

liy  this  time  the  mittimus  was  made  out,  and  Bunyan  started 
with  the  constable  for  liedford  goal.  As  they  were  going  down 
the  road  from  the  house,  they  were  met  by  two  friends,  who 
thought  that  somethin":  mij'lit  still  be  done  for  Bunyan's  release. 
At  all  events,  they  would  have  him  wait  till  they  had  been  to 
Wingate  and  made  the  attempt.  So  he  and  the  constable  waited. 
Presently  the  two  friends  returned  with  the  message  that  if 
Bunyan  would  onl-y  say  certain  w<jrds  to  the  Justice  ho  might 
be  released.  Turning  to  his  friends  with  that  earnest  look  of 
his,  ]>\inyan  replied  that  if  the  words  asked  for  were  sucli  as 
could  be  Hpoki'ii  with  a  good  conscience;  he  would  say  them,  nut 
else — an  utterance  surely  not  unworthy  to  bo  placed  by  the 
side  of  that  other  of  Luther's,  *'  Here  I  stand;   I  can  no  other. 


144  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap.  vii. 

God  help  me  ! " — an  utterance,  loo,  the  resolute  spirit  of  which 
has,  in  all  ages,  built  up  the  rampart  of  liberty  against  the 
encroachments  of  tyranny. 

The  prospect  was  not  hopeful,  still  all  went  back  together  to 
Wingate's  house.  "  Wherefore  as  I  went,"  says  Bunyan,  "  I 
lift  up  my  heart  to  God  for  light  and  strength,  to  be  kept,  that 
I  might  not  do  anything  that  might  either  dishonour  Him  or 
wrong  my  own  soul,  or  be  a  grief  or  discouragement  to  any 
that  were  inclining  after  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  By  this  time 
the  short  November  day  was  drawing  in,  and  when  they  were 
once  more  in  the  house,  there  came  out  of  another  room,  and 
holding  up  a  candle,  one  William  Foster,  afterwards  Dr.  Foster, 
a  lawyer  of  Bedford.  He  had  married  Wingate's  sister  Amy, 
some  seven  years  before,  but  had  lost  her  by  death  the  previous 
year.  Seeing  by  the  light  of  his  uplifted  candle  who  it  was, 
"What,  John  Bunyan  !"  cried  he,  "with  such  seeming  affec- 
tion as  if  he  would  have  leaped  on  my  neck  and  kissed  me." 
But  Bunyan  held  himself  back,  and  did  "  somewhat  wonder 
that  such  a  man  as  he,  with  whom  I  had  so  little  acquaintance, 
and  besides,  that  had  ever  been  a  close  opposer  of  the  ways  of 
God,  should  carry  himself  so  full  of  love  to  me."  He  had  not 
jaelded  to  force,  he  would  not  now  to  flattery.  "  A  right 
Judas,"  says  he ;  and  as  in  after  years  he  saw  what  this  man 
did,  he  remembered  that  it  was  somewhere  written,  "  Their 
tongues  are  smoother  than  oil,  but  their  words  are  drawn 
swords."  We  shall  meet  with  this  man  Foster  again  and 
again  during  the  next  five-and-twenty  years  of  our  history. 
We  shall  find  him  as  Chancellor  of  the  Diocese  of  Lincoln 
and  Commissary  of  the  Court  of  the  Bedford  Arch- 
deaconry, harassing  the  Nonconformists  from  parish  to  parish 
and  from  year  to  year.  There  was  a  sort  of  sinister  significance 
in  his  appearance  at  this  point,  therefore.  Coming  in  through 
the  open  door,  with  uplifted  candle  and  inquiring  look,  he  might 
be  taken  as  the  incarnate  spirit  of  that  era  of  persecution  which 
was  now  at  the  door.  With  a  tongue  smoother  than  oil,  as 
Bunyan  says,  he  tried  to  prevail  upon  him  to  leave  ofi"  preach- 
ing. There  was  the  usual  argument  on  the  one  side,  to  the 
efi'ect  that  no  man  ought  to  preach  Christ's  gospel  but  he 
who  was   sent  forth  by  bishop  and    by  Parliament ;  and  the 


16G0.]  HARLIXGTOX  nOUSE.  145 

usual  and  sufficient  reply  on  the  other,  that  a  call  from  God 
and  a  fire  in  the  soul  could  not  be  kept  within  the  bounds  of 
bishop's  licence  or  of  the  statutes  at  large.  It  was  little  use  to 
argue  further.  The  time  for  words  had  gone  by,  the  time  for 
deeds  and  suffering  had  come.  "  Thus,"  says  Bunyan,  "  we 
parted.  And  verily,  as  I  was  going  forth  of  the  doors,  I  had 
much  ado  to  forbear  saying  to  them  that  I  carried  the  peace  of 
God  along  with  me.  ]iut  I  held  my  peace,  and,  blessed  be  the 
Lord,  went  away  to  prison  with  God's  comfort  in  my  poor 
soul." 

Before  parting  finally  with  Francis  "Wingate  and  Ilarlington 
House,  it  may  be  well  to  anticipate  a  little  the  story  of  the 
years  to  come,  and  show  how  Bunyan  may  be  said  to  have 
had,  curiously  enough,  a  sort  of  holy  revenge  upon  the  man  who 
sent  him  to  prison.  There  were,  as  we  have  seen,  many  bright- 
faced  children  in  the  old  house  on  that  November  day  of  1660. 
One  wonders  whether  they  gathered  round  the  prisoner 
whom  their  father  was  sending  to  Bedford  gaol,  looked 
into  his  face,  and  remembered  him  again  when  they  heard  in 
after  years  of  the  marvellous  book  he  had  written.  Of  the 
eldest  son,  Francis,  then  a  lad  of  eleven,  we  happen  to  know 
something  definite.  Eleven  years  later  we  find  him  the  chosen 
friend  of  Lord  Alt  ham,  the  scapegrace  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Anglesey.  Through  the  influence  of  this  Earl,  who  was  of  the 
]*rivy  Council,  young  Francis  was  knighted  in  1()72,  and  there- 
fore during  the  lifetime  of  liis  fatlier,  who  died  in  lG7o.  Some 
years  later  Sir  Francis  married  Lady  Anne  Anncslcy,  the  fourth 
daughter  of  Lord  Anglesey.  Her  father  was  cousin  to  Dr. 
Samuel  Annesley,  the  eminent  Nonconformist  minister,  and 
therefore  she  was  second  cousin  to  Susimnah  Wesley,  the  mother 
of  John.  Lord  Anglesey  himself  was  on  terms  of  friondsliip 
with  John  Milton,  calling  upon  the  poet  at  his  house  in  ArtilU'ry 
Place;  and  though,  as  has  been  said,  of  the  King's  I'rivy 
Council,  he  had  strong  sympathy  with  tlie  Nonconformists,  liad 
usually  oneof  their  ministers  residing  in  his  house  as  cliaplaiu, 
knew  much  of  their  affairs,  and  interested  himself  greatly  on 
their  behalf.  Tlie  countess,  his  wife,  also  was  u  member  of  Dr. 
(Jwcn's  church,  and  was  so  much  attached  to  him  and  his 
ministry  that,  ut  her  own  rcciuest,  she  wus  buried  \n  the  same 

1, 


146  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vn. 

A^ault  with  him,  "  that  dying  as  well  as  living  she  might  testify 
her  regard  for  him."  * 

On  the  marriage  of  the  young  Sir  Francis  Wingate  with  their 
daughter,  Lady  Anne,  great  preparations  were  made  at  poor 
Harlington  for  the  reception  of  the  bride.  The  hall  and  state 
bedchamber  were  newly  fitted  up  for  the  occasion,  the  chamber 
being  hung  with  tapestry  "  disfiguring  and  representing  "  the 
judgment  of  Paris  and  other  classical  stories,  the  bed  being  of 
damask,  richly  adorned  with  fringe  and  gilding.  But,  alas!  the 
roads  down  into  Bedfordshire  in  those  days  were  atrociously  bad, 
the  house  which  was  to  be  her  future  home,  in  spite  of  its  at- 
tempts at  grandeur,  seemed  to  her  poor  and  small,  and  Lady 
Anne,  tired  and  weary  with  her  journey  and  with  some  yearn- 
ings still  for  the  home  she  had  left  behind  her,  sat  down  and 
burst  into  tears. f  It  was  an  unpromising  beginning  to  her 
country  life,  but  she  had  too  much  good  sense  to  weep  for  long 
over  a  position  she  had  accepted  for  herself.  With  character- 
istic vigour  she  set  about  those  duties  of  life,  which  are  serious 
both  in  lowly  and  lofty  places,  and  in  after  years  was  really  the 
stay  of  the  house,  rescuing  her  husband's  estate  from  the  conse- 
quences of  his  spendthrift  ways.  As  might  be  expected  from  her 
early  associations,  her  sympathies  were  warmly  on  the  side  of  the 
^Nonconformists,  her  husband  sometimes  saying  half  jocularly, 
half  bitterly,  that  when  he  was  gone  she  would  certainly  turn 
his  great  hall  into  a  conventicle.  It  is  more  than  likely  that 
she  did,  for  he  died  in  1690  at  the  early  age  of  forty-two,  and 
we  find  that  several  of  his  children  joined  the  Nonconformists. 
Three  of  his  daughters,  Frances,  Anna  Letitia,  and  Rachel 
Wingate  became  members  of  the  Church  at  the  Old  Meeting  in 
Bedford  of  which  Bunyan  had  been  minister.  One  of  these, 
Anna  Letitia,  the  fourth  daughter,  married  the  Rev.  John 
Jennings,  the  son  of  an  ejected  minister,  and  himself  the  pastor 
of  the  Congregational  church  at  Xibworth,  and  tutor  of  the 
Dissenting  Academy  there.  It  was  therefore  in  the  house  of 
Sir  Francis  Wingate's  daughter  that  Philip  Doddridge  lived  in 
his  student  days,  finding  there  that  atmosphere  of  a  refined 
and  educated   home  life  of   which  he   speaks  in  his   letters. 

*  Onne's  Life  of  John  Owen,  p.  287. 

t  Memories  of  Seventy  Years.    By  one  of  a  Literary  Family,  1885, 


16S0.]  HARLIXGTOX  HOUSE.  m7 

Through  this  Mrs.  Jennings  wo  come  also  upon  a  strain  of 
Nonconformist  descendants  of  more  than  merely  local  fame. 
Her  daughter  married  the  Rev.  John  Aikin,  and  became  the 
mother  of  that  Dr.  Aikin  and  Anna  Letitia  Barbauld  who  gave 
us  "Evenings  at  Home,"  and  the  grandmother  of  Lucy  Aikin, 
a  lady  of  some  reputation  in  the  literary  world,  who  died  in 
18G4.  Frances,  another  dauorhter  of  Sir  Francis  Win^-ate, 
married  Thomas  "Woodward,  one  of  the  deacons  of  tlie  Bedford 
church  ;  and  her  two  daughters,  Frances  and  Ann,  married 
the  first,  the  Rev,  Samuel  Sanderson,  one  of  Bunyan's  succes- 
sors at  Bedford  ;  and  the  second,  the  Rev.  James  Belsham, 
becoming  thus  the  mother  of  Thomas  and  William  Belsham, 
names  well-known  in  the  circles  of  liberal  thought  nearly  a 
century  ajjo. 

The  names  of  the  "Wingatcs  has  died  out  at  Ilarlinerton,  all 
three  sons  of  Sir  Francis  passing  away  childless.  In  succession 
they  each  possessed  the  old  house  of  their  father,  but  the  first 
dissipated  more  than  his  successors  could  retrieve,  and  at  the 
death  of  the  last  of  the  brothers  the  small  remaininff  estate 
passed  to  their  nephew,  Arthur  Jennings,  the  son  of  the  pastor 
of  Kibworth.  Francis  Jennings,  the  brother  of  Arthur,  was 
an  active  member  and  trustee  of  the  Bedford  church,  and,  as 
a  tablet  on  the  wall  of  the  burial  ground  testifies,  he  and  four 
of  his  children  found  resting  place  there.  His  youngest  son 
David,  who  died  at  Ampthill  at  an  advanced  age  as  lately  as 
1824,  was  by  his  own  request  brought  to  Bedford  to  bo  laid 
in  the  old  burial  place  by  tho  side  of  tho  rest,  their  dust 
mingling  with  that  of  Bunyan's  own  wife,  his  children,  and 
grandchildren.  The  Wingatcs,  the  Woodwards,  and  the  Jen- 
ningses,  all  sprung  from  Francis  Wingate,  lie  sleeping  at  tho 
very  foot  of  tho  steps  leading  up  to  those  bronze  memorial  doors 
given  by  the  Duke  of  Bedford  in  honour  of  Banyan  himself. 
Could  tlio  veil  of  the  future  have  that  day  been  for  a  moiUL-ut 
uplifted,  Bunyan's  soul  would  surely  have  been  strengtlicned  by 
tho  unexpected  sight  of  so  many  Nonconformists  8])rung  from 
tho  man  who  was  trying  to  crush  Nonconformity  in  him, 

Ilcturning  now  to  that  November  sceno  of  UiGO  which  sent 
us  forth  on  these  wanderings  of  ours,  wo  come  back  once  more 
to  Bunvan  and  tho  constable  whom  wa  loft  closing  the  gate 

l2 


148  JOHN  BUNT  AN.  [chap.  vii. 

of  Harlington  House  behind  them.  Foster's  uplifted  candle 
serves  to  remind  us  that  it  was  growing  dark  as  they  left  and 
that  the  night  was  near.  Tarrying,  therefore,  somewhere  in 
safe  custody,  they  waited  for  the  morning,  when  they  started 
for  Bedford  gaol.  This  was  thirteen  miles  away,  the  distance 
being  probably  travelled  on  foot  either  through  Pulloxhill  to 
the  high  road  at  Silsoe,  and  so  through  Wilstead  and  Elstow, 
or  by  way  of  Westoning  and  Ampthill.  A  strange  world 
of  experience  seemed  behind,  and  a  new  world  was  opening 
before  as  these  two  travellers,  bemired  with  the  jSTovember 
roads,  made  their  way  towards  Bedford  bridge  and  over  it  to 
the  grim  prison  at  the  corner  of  Gaol  Lane.  The  old  gate, 
swung  open  to  receive  them,  then  swung  back  again  to  shut 
them  in,  and  Bunyan  left  many  pleasant  things  on  the  other  side 
of  it.  But  not  everything  ;  not  those  divine  compensations  God 
gives  to  faithful  souls  even  here ;  not  those  visions  of  glory 
which  for  many  a  day  were  to  gladden  the  gloom. 

The  news  that  Bunyan  was  in  gaol  soon  spread  through  the 
town,  carrying  consternation  to  the  hearts  of  his  family  and  of 
his  brethren  in  the  Church.  Could  nothing  be  done  ?  They 
would  at  least  try  to  get  bail  till  the  sessions.  Mr.  Crompton, 
the  Justice  at  Elstow,  was  waited  upon.  He  knew  Bunyan, 
and  was  not  indisposed  to  accept  the  offered  sureties,  but  he  was 
perplexed  ;  there  had  as  yet  been  no  other  arrest  for  preaching, 
and  thinking  that  there  surely  must  be  some  more  serious 
charge,  and,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  only  a  young  man, 
he  declined  to  act.  Bunyan  tells  us  that  before  going  to  meet 
the  Justice  he  first  committed  the  matter  absolutely  to  the 
Lord  and  left  it  in  His  hands.  If  he  might  do  more  good  b}'- 
being  set  at  liberty  he  asked  that  liberty  might  be  granted. 
But  if  not,  then  God's  will  be  done,  for  he  was  not  altogether 
without  hope  his  imprisonment  might  be  the  awakening  of  the 
saints  in  that  country.  Having  thus  in  all  simplicity  com- 
mitted the  matter  to  God,  there  came  into  his  heart  that 
inward  peace  God  ever  gives  to  trustful  souls.  When  he  found 
from  his  gaoler  that  Mr.  Crompton  had  refused  the  bail  he 
was  not  at  all  daunted,  but  rather  glad,  and  saw  evidently  that 
the  Lord  had  heard  him.  "  Verily,  at  my  return,"  says  he, 
"I  did   meet  my  God  sweetly  in  prison  again,  comforting  of 


1661.] 


TUE  CHAPEL  OF  IIERXE. 


149 


me  and  satisfying  of  me  that  it  was  Ilis  will  and  mind  that  I 
should  be  there."  He  wrote  these  words  immediately  on 
returning  to  the  prison  chamber,  and  adds — "Here  1  lie  wait- 
ing the  good  will  of  God  to  do  Avith  me  as  He  pleaseth,  know- 
ing: that  not  one  hair  of  my  head  can  fall  to  the  o-round  without 
the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven  ;  that,  let  the  rage 
and  malice  of  men  be  what  they  may,  they  can  do  no  more  and 
go  no  farther  than  God  permits  them  ;  and  even  when  they 
have  done  their  worst,  we  know  that  all  things  work  together 
for  good  for  them  that  love  God," 


Chapel  of  II erne,  Bedfoud. 
[From  a  Drawing  in  t/ie  Carter  Culkdion,  1783.] 


Seven  or  eight  weeks  after  l^unyan's  arrest,  the  January 
Quarter  Sessions  came  on  at  Bedford.  There  being  then  no 
shire  hall  in  the  county  town  the  Sessions  and  Assi/es  were 
held  in  a  curious  old  building  known  as  the  Chapel  of  Herue, 
and  because  it  stood  near  to  the  Grammar  School,  sometimes 
called  School-liouse  chapel.  Tin'  nrigin  of  the  name  ('hapelof 
Kerne  is  lost  in  anticpiity.  TIk;  Imilding  itself  from  its 
a[)pearance  may  have  served  as  u  house  for  one  of  the  ancient 
guilds  or  as  a  chantrey  chapel,  and  at  the  east  end  liiero  was 
an   early    I'lnglisli    winrhnv    rouglily    bricked    up,  witli    a   door 


150  JOIIN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vii. 

inserted  beneatli.  From  the  corporation  minutes  we  find  that 
this  once  ecclesiastical  structure  had  to  adapt  itself  to  a  variety 
of  uses  in  the  interval  of  Sessions  and  Assize.  In  1647  it  was 
let  on  lease  to  John  Faldo,  with  the  understanding  on  his  part 
that  "  he  shall  sweep  and  cleanse  it  against  the  Judges  comying 
to  sitt,  and  leave  it  open  for  their  sitting,  and  so  upon  any 
other  public  occasion."  Again  in  1666  a  lease  was  granted  of 
"the  Chapel  of  Heme,  alias  School-house  Chappell,"  to  Joseph 
How,  he  "to  beare  all  taxes  and  allow  the  use  of  the  house  for 
the  Justices  of  Assize  and  other  public  meetings  of  the  countrie, 
and  to  that  end  upon  warning  to  remove  his  goods  and  timber 
out  of  the  house,  and  white  the  wall  and  repaire  the  iloore  of 
the  house." 

In  this  primitive  Palace  of  Justice,  Bunyan  made  his  appear- 
ance for  trial  about  the  second  week  of  January,  1660-1.  The 
county  magistrates  upon  the  bench  that  day  were  Sir  John 
Kelynge  of  Southill  ;  Sir  Henry  Chester  of  Lidlington  ;  Sir 
George  Blundell  of  Cardington  ;  Sir  Wm.  Beecher  of  How- 
bury  ;  and  Thomas  Snagg,  of  Millbrook,  afterwards  high  sheriff. 
Their  antecedents  considered,  they  were  not  a  promising  bench 
for  a  Noncomformist  culprit  to  appear  before.  Sir  John  Kelynge 
was  chairman  of  the  Sessions  on  the  occasion.  He  had  been 
long  biding  his  time,  and  had  therefore  small  inclination  to  be 
merciful.  Called  to  the  bar  as  early  as  1632,  there  is  yet 
from  that  time  to  the  Restoration  no  mention  made  of  him  in 
the  Reports.  Clarendon  described  him  to  the  king  as  "  a  person 
of  eminent  learning  and  eminent  suffering,  who  never  wore  his 
gown  after  the  Rebellion,  but  was  always  in  goal ;  "  and  he 
himself,  on  his  being  made  a  Judge  in  1663,  speaks  of  his 
"  twenty  years'  silence."  He  was  one  of  the  first  batch  of  new 
serjeants-at-law  called  in  1660 ;  in  October  he  acted  as  one  of 
the  counsel  for  the  Crown  in  the  trial  of  the  Regicides  ;  and  two 
years  later  he  also  conducted  the  prosecution  of  Sir  Harry  Vane, 
towards  whom  his  conduct  was  unfeelingly  harsh  and  insulting. 
He  was  returned  for  Bedford  to  the  Parliament  of  1661,  and 
in  May  prepared  the  Act  of  Uniformity  which  was  passed  the 
following  year.  He  vacated  his  seat  in  1663  on  being  made 
a  Judge  of  King's  Bench,  and  two  years  later  became  Lord 
Chief  Justice.     An  eminent  authority  has  said  that   "here- 


16G1.]  THE  CRATEL  OF  IIERXE.  151 

taiucd  the  place  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  with  little  reputa- 
tion as  a  lawyer,  and  frequently  incurring  censure  hy  his  want 
of  temper  and  discretion."  *  He  has  been  described  as  fitter 
to  charge  Roundheads  under  Prince  Ptupert  than  a  jury  in 
\yestminster  Hall.  In  violent  overbearing  Avay  he  once 
fined  a  jurv  a  hundred  marks  apiece  for  acquitting  a  few 
poor  people  who  had  met  for  worship  with  Bibles  but  with- 
out Prayer  Books.  Yet,  as  is  often  the  case  with  blustering 
people,  he  could  be  cowardly  enough  when  he  himself  was 
in  peril.  Arbitrary  proceedings  on  the  bench  and  contempt- 
uous allusions  to  Magna  Charta  brought  him  before  the  notice 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  which  at  first  was  disposed  to  treat 
him  with  severity,  and  it  was  only  by  an  act  of  the  most  obse- 
quious submission  that  Kelynge  escaped  the  most  serious  con- 
sequences. Yet  he  soon  forgot  this  stern  reminder,  for  in 
1G7U  he  was  compelled  to  humble  himself  at  the  bar  of  the 
House  of  Lords  for  his  insolence  to  Lord  Hollis  on  his  trial 
in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench.  Such  Avas  the  man  who  pre- 
sided at  Bunyan's  examination  in  IGGl,  and  the  man  whom 
Bunyan  probably  had  in  his  mind  when  he  drew  the  character 
of  Lord  Hategood  in  the  trial  of  Faithful  at  Vanity  Fair. 

Of  the  other  magistrates  on  the  occasion,  Sir  Henry  Chester 
of  Tilsworth  and  Lidlington,  Francis  Wingate's  uncle,  was 
created  Knight  of  the  Bath  at  the  coronation  of  the  King  a  few 
months  later,  and  was  the  justice  who  with  so  much  angry 
feeling  tried  to  steel  the  heart  of  Sir  Matthew  Halo  against 
the  appeal  of  Bunyan's  wife,  in  the  Swan  chamber;  Sir  Wil- 
liam lieecher  of  Howbury  was  knighted  the  same  week 
that  Bunyan  was  arrested,  and  Sir  George  Blundell  of  Car- 
dingtou  Manor  somewhat  later.  Sir  George  was  one  of  the 
delinquents  whoso  estates  had  been  decimated  in  IJedfordshiro, 
in  IGOO,  and  aaIio  was  therefore  under  some  temptation  to  use 
the  strong  hand  when  his  turn  came.  As  late  as  1G70  we  find 
him  still  vigorously  persecuting  (Quakers  and  other  Noncon- 
formists, and  on  one  occasion  when  property  of  theirs,  which  had 
been  distrained,  was  put  up  for  sale,  and  no  one  would  buy, 
Sir  George  angrily  declared  that  "  he  would  sell   a  cow  for  a 

•  Jtidfjei  of  England,  by  EJwarJ  Fosa,  l-'.S.A.,  of  tlu!  Iiiin  r  T<ini)h.>.  LuuJim, 
1870. 


152  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vii. 

shilling  rather  than  that  the  work  should  not  go  forward." 
The  remaining  magistrate,  Thomas  Snagg,  of  Millbrook  and 
Marston,  was,  according  to  old  Thomas  Archer,  "  disinherited 
by  his  father  in  his  lyfe  tyme,"  but  appears  to  have  recovered 
his  position,  and  a  few  years  later  was  sheriff  of  the  county. 

Such  were  the  men  before  whom  John  Bunyan,  of  the  town 
of  Bedford,  labourer,  was  indicted  for  "  devilishly  and  perni- 
ciously abstaining  from  coming  to  church  to  hear  divine  ser- 
vice, and  for  being  a  common  upholder  of  several  unlawful 
meetings  and  conventicles  to  the  great  disturbance  and  dis- 
traction of  the  good  subjects  of  this  kingdom,  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  our  sovereign  lord  the  King."  Bunyan  must  have 
smiled  to  himself  on  hearing  the  little  meeting  at  Samsell 
described  in  such  ponderous  and  awful  terms ;  and  on  being 
asked  by  the  clerk  of  the  court  what  he  had  to  say  to  the  charge, 
he  quietly  answered  that  he  did  go  to  the  church  of  God, 
and  by  grace  was  a  member  with  the  people  over  whom  Christ 
is  the  head.  Kelynge,  impatient  at  this,  asked  him  straight 
out,  "  But  do  you  come  to  church,  you  know  what  I  mean,  to 
the  parish  church,  to  hear  divine  service  ?  "  Bunyan  replied 
that  he  did  not,  whereupon  they  fell  to  on  the  subject  of  the 
respective  merits  of  praying  with  book  and  without.  The 
discussion  became  somewhat  entertaining,  but  at  length  Bun- 
yan's  direct  utterances  seemed  to  one  of  the  magistrates  to  be 
assuming  a  form  so  dangerous  that  he  was  for  stopping  him ; 
but  Kelynge  said  there  was  nothing  to  fear,  the  Prayer  Book 
was  in  no  danger,  "having  been  ever  since  the  Apostles'  time," 
a  fact  apparently  not  known  to  any  church  historian  previous 
to  Kelynge.  Be  that  as  it  might,  and  let  all  be  said  for  the 
Prayer  Book  that  could  be  said,  Bunyan  told  them  that  he  for 
his  part  could  pray  very  well  without  it.  This  was  too  much 
for  these  champions  of  Episcopacy,  and  one  of  them  asked 
him  if  Beelzebub  was  not  his  god,  while  some  of  the  others 
told  him  more  than  once  that  he  was  possessed  with  the  spirit 
of  delusion  and  of  the  devil.  "All  which  sayings,"  says  he, 
"I  passed  over;  the  Lord  forgive  them."  He  contented  him- 
self with  simply  saying  that  in  their  meetings  for  prayer, 
"  they  had  had  the  comfortable  presence  of  God  among  them, 
blessed  be  His  name  !  " 


1661.]  THE  CHAPEL  OF  UERXE.  153 

Kelynge  called  this  pedlar's  French,  told  him  to  leave  off 
cantinfj,  and  asked  him  to  show  his  authority  for  preachino-. 
To  Ivolyuge  as  to  Lindall,  Bunyan  produced  the  passage  from 
the  Epistle  of  Peter  about  every  one  ministering  as  he  had 
received  the  gift.  "Whereupon  Kelynge,  having  recovered  his 
temper  a  little,  was  disposed  to  be  facetious,  and  while  descant- 
ing against  irregular  preaching  turned  irregular  preacher  him- 
self. "  Let  me,"  says  he,  "a  little  open  that  Scripture  to  you. 
*  As  every  man  hath  received  the  gift ; '  that  is,  as  every  man 
hath  received  a  trade,  so  let  him  follow  it.  If  any  man  have 
received  a  gift  of  tinkeiing,  as  thou  hast  done,  let  him  follow 
his  tinkering;  and  so  other  men  their  trades  and  the  preacher 
his."  Bunyan  was  proceeding  to  show  that  this  piece  of 
exegesis  from  the  bench  would  not  hang  together  with  the  next 
verse  where  the  reference  was  to  the  oracles  of  God,  when 
Kelynge,  finding  that  he  himself  had  by  this  time  got  out  of 
his  depth,  would  have  no  more.  As  Bunj'an  was  going  on  to 
say  that  if  it  was  a  sin  to  meet  together  to  seek  the  face  of  God 
and  exhort  one  another  to  follow  Christ,  he  should  be  a  sinner 
still,  for  so  they  should  continue  to  do,  Kelynge  stopped  him 
and  asked  him  point-blank,  did  he  confess  to  the  indictment  or 
did  he  not  ?  To  which  the  prisoner  replied,  that  he  and  his 
friends  had  had  many  meetings  together  for  mutual  help  and 
exhortations,  when  they  had  enjoyed  the  sweet  comforting 
presence  of  the  Lord  among  them,  blessed  bo  Ilis  name  ;  in  no 
otherwise  was  he  guilty.  Then  said  Kelynge,  "  Hear  your 
judgment,  you  must  be  had  back  to  prison  and  there  lie  for 
three  months  following,  and  if  then  you  do  not  submit  to  go 
to  church  and  leave  off  iireacliing,  you  must  be  banished  the 
realm."  If,  after  such  banishment  he  was  again  found  in  the 
country  without  special  licence  from  the  King,  he  was  told  he 
should  stretch  by  the  neck  for  it.  Tlie  gaoler  was  then  ordered 
to  remove  his  prisoner,  who,  as  he  went  down,  gave  a  parting 
look  at  his  judge,  and  left  these  farewell  words  behind  hira, 
*'  I  am  at  a  point  with  you  ;  for  if  I  were  out  of  prison  to- 
day, I  would  preach  the  gospel  again  to-morrow,  by  the  help 
of  God  !  " 

"So  ])eing  a<;ain   delivered   up  1<>  I  lie  gaoler's  hands,  I  was 
had    homo  to  prison  again."      In  this  uuhomeliko    home    ho 


154  JOBN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  yii. 

remained  the  next  tliree  montlis,  during  tlie  last  week  of 
which  he  received  a  visit  in  a  semi  -  official  capacity  from 
Mr.  Cobb,  the  clerk  of  the  peace.  Cobb  came,  as  he  ex- 
plained to  Bunyan,  on  behalf  of  the  justices,  to  admonish  him, 
and  to  demand  his  submission  to  the  Church  of  England. 
Partly  by  threats  and  partly  by  friendly  persuasion,  he  tried 
to  extort  a  promise  from  him  that  this  preaching  should  come 
to  an  end.  It  would  surely  have  been  more  regular  to  have 
set  the  prisoner  free  at  the  expiration  of  his  sentence,  and  Avait 
till  he  had  committed  some  new  offence  against  the  law  before 
dealing  with  him  farther.  But  that  was  not  justice's  justice 
in  those  days,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  without  any  farther 
indictment  or  sentence,  and  therefore  in  defiance  of  Habeas 
Corpus,  Bunyan  was  kept  a  prisoner  for  the  next  six  years. 
Cobb  came  to  demand  his  submission  under  the  threat  that  if 
he  did  not  give  it  at  the  next  sessions  it  might  go  worse  with 
him  than  at  the  last  ;  he  might  have  to  be  banished  the  realm, 
perhaps  worse  even  than  that.  Three  months'  confinement 
had  done  nothing  to  subdue  the  spirit  of  this  resolute  prisoner. 
He  still  held  to  his  purpose,  and  still  defended  their  meetings, 
the  object  of  which  he  said  was  simply  to  do  each  other  as 
much  good  as  they  could  according  to  their  light,  and  not  to 
disturb  the  peace  of  the  nation. 

Fortunately  for  Cobb's  argument,  and  unfortunately  for  all 
peacable,  JNonconformists,  some  three  months  before,  a  foolish 
riot  had  broken  out  in  London  under  Thomas  Venner  and  a 
few  Fifth  Monarchy  men  who  had  read  themselves  out  of  their 
senses  by  literal  renderings  of  the  Apocalypse.  Cobb  made  use 
of  this  riot  to  discredit  all  conventicle  ffatherinors.  Bunyan 
would  not  concede  that  the  cases  were  parallel.  Thieves  might 
sometimes  come  out  of  the  wood,  but  all  men  coming  out  of  the 
wood  were  not  thieves.  For  himself  he  was  a  law-abiding 
subject,  and  held  it  to  be  his  duty  to  behave  himself  under  the 
King's  government  as  became  a  man  and  a  Christian,  and  if 
only  opportunity  were  given  him  he  would  willingly  manifest 
his  loyalty  to  his  prince  both  by  word  and  deed.  Finding 
that  threats  prevailed  not  and  that  in  argument  he  was  worsted, 
Cobb  fell  to  persuasion.  He  would  have  neighbour  Bunyan  to 
consider  the  matter  seriously  and  submit  himself  like  a  sen- 


16G1.]  THE  CHAPEL   OF  UERXE.  Voo 

sible  man.  Could  ho  not  come  to  the  authorised  g^atherings  of 
the  Church  and  be  content  to  hear  like  other  folks  ?  had  he 
received  a  gift  so  far  above  others  that  he  could  not  hear  other 
men  preach  ?  IJunyan  modestly  replied  that  he  was  as  willing 
to  be  taught  as  to  teach,  and  looked  upon  it  as  his  duty  to  do 
both  ;  and  as  for  sitting  still  awhile,  as  he  was  advised,  to  see 
how  things  would  go,  he  remembered  that  "NVycliffe  had  said 
that  he  who  left  oflf  preaching  and  hearing  the  word  of  God  for 
fear  of  the  excommunication  of  man  was  already  excommuni- 
cated of  God,  and  would  in  the  day  of  judgment  be  counted  a 
traitor  to  Christ.  So  they  went  on  going  the  whole  round  of 
the  argument  by  which  officialism  in  all  ages  has  tried  to  bind 
fast  the  free  life  of  God ;  they  went  the  same  round  as  before 
and  with  the  same  result.  Cobb,  who  seems  to  have  been  on 
the  whole  a  fair-minded  man,  having  to  discharge  an  unwel- 
come and  fruitless  task,  makes  one  more  appeal  to  neighbour 
Bunyan,  in  which  he  is  sustained  in  friendly  manner  by  the 
gaoler.  He  would  have  him  consider  the  matter  seriously 
between  now  and  Quarter  Sessions  and  submit  himself.  "  You 
may,"  says  he,  "do  much  good  if  you  continue  in  the  country, 
but  what  benetit  will  it  be  to  your  friends,  or  what  good  can 
you  do  to  them  if  you  should  be  sent  away  beyond  the  "eas 
into  Spain  or  Constantinople,  or  some  other  remote  part  of  the 
world  y  Pray  be  ruled."  Cobb's  knowledfro  of  Eno-lish  colo- 
niul  geography  was  evidently  rather  vague  for  a  clerk  of  the 
peace,  but  probably  he  only  selected  at  random  two  countries 
which  might  have  a  nameless  terror  for  a  Protestant  and 
Chrihtian  mind.  It  was  all  in  vain.  "  Sir,"  said  lUinyan, 
"  the  law  hath  provided  two  ways  of  obeying :  the  one  to  do 
that  which  I  in  my  conscience  do  believe  that  I  am  bound  to  do 
actively  ;  and  where  I  cannot  obey  actively  then  I  am  willing 
to  lie  down  and  sufi'er  wliat  they  shall  do  unto  me.  At  this  ho 
sate  still,  and  said  no  more ;  which  when  ho  had  done,  I  did 
thank  him  for  his  civil  and  meek  discoursing  with  mo  ;  and  so 
we  parted,     f )  I    tliat  we  might  meet  in  heaven  !  " 

Three  weeks  later,  on  the  23rd  of  April,  camo  the  King's 
coronation,  when  release  of  prisoners  in  honour  of  the  event 
might  be  looked  for  from  the  royal  clemency.  Many  did  on 
that  occasion  receive  their  liberty,  but  Bunyan  was  not  among 


156  JOHN  BTJNY AIL  [chap.  vii. 

til  em.  Tlie  names  to  be  recommended  depended  upon  the 
local  authorities,  and  these  bore  no  goodwill  to  the  resolute 
tinker- teacher.  Barabbas  was  preferred  to  the  master,  no 
wonder  therefore  that  felons  were  preferred  to  the  disciple.  If 
it  came  to  strict  law,  they  had,  as  we  have  said,  no  right  to 
keep  Bunyan  in  prison  at  all,  having  preferred  no  charge  openly 
and  given  no  trial.  But  he  had  dared  to  think  for  himself,  to 
think  differently  from  the  men  who  happened  just  then  to  be 
uppermost,  and  while  they  could  forgive  other  crimes,  they 
could  not  forgive  this.  Therefore  while  many  gaol-bound  men 
received  enlargement  at  the  King's  coronation,  Bunyan  did  not. 
That  day,  which  ended  in  a  portentous  thunderstorm  for  the 
nation,  ended  in  disappointment  for  him. 

From  April,  therefore,  till  August  he  tarried  on  in  prison. 
In  the  latter  month  was  held  what,  though  falling  in  August, 
was  called  the  Midsummer  Assize.  Bunyan  hoped  something 
from  this  ;  he  hoped  he  might  now  get  a  hearing  in  open  court. 
Three  several  times,  through  his  faithful  wife,  he  presented  a 
petition  to  the  judge  of  assize,  praying  for  this.  The  first  time 
she  presented  it  to  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  who  happened  that  year 
to  come  to  Bedford,  on  circuit.  He  received  both  her  and  her 
petition  kindly,  telling  her  he  would  do  what  good  he  could, 
but  feared  he  could  do  none.  The  next  day,  as  the  judge's 
carriage  was  passing  through  St.  Paul's  Square  from  the  Swan 
to  the  chapel  of  Heme,  the  resolute  woman  threw  a  petition  in 
at  the  window  to  Twisden,  who  was  the  other  judge  of  assize. 
He  caught  it  up  snappishly,  and  told  her  angrily  that  it  was  of 
no  use,  that  her  husband  could  not  be  released  till  he  would 
promise  not  to  preach.  Undaunted  even  by  this,  the  brave 
woman  resolved  once  more  to  try  Sir  Matthew  Hale.  There 
was  something  about  him  that  gave  her  hope ;  he  was  a 
Christian  man,  he  was  generous-hearted,  he  would,  she  was 
sure,  help  her  if  he  could.  In  some  pause  of  the  business  of 
the  court,  therefore,  Elizabeth  Bunyan  made  her  way  through 
the  throng  of  lawyers,  counsel,  and  witnesses  to  the  judge  on  the 
bench.  Again  he  received  her  kindly  ;  but  Sir  Henry  Chester 
happening  to  be  near  Sir  Matthew  at  the  time,  dashed  her  hopes 
by  telling  the  judge  that  her  husband  had  been  duly  convicted, 
and  that  he  was  a  hot-spirited  fellow,  with  more  to  the  same 


1661.]  THE  CRAPEL  OF  HERXE.  Vol 

purpose.  At  this,  Sir  Matthew  took  no  further  interest  in  his 
great  contemporary,  and  with  sorrow  in  her  heart,  and  prohably 
tears  in  her  eyes,  P^lizabeth  Bunyan  fell  back  again  into  the 
crowd.  Edmund  Wyldo  of  the  Grove,  Houghton  Conquest, 
was  high  sheriff  that  year — let  us  remember  his  name  with 
honour,  for  he  was  the  only  man  who  spoke  a  word  of  cheer 
to  the  weary-hearted  woman  in  this  her  day  of  trial.  He 
had  probably  seen  her  in  conference  with  the  judge,  and  noted 
her  disappointed  look  as  she  left  Sir  Matthew  and  passed  by 
him  on  her  way  to  the  street  outside.  He  spoke  kindly  to  her, 
and  cheered  her  on  to  one  more  effort  on  behalf  of  her  husband. 
There  would  be  yet  an  opportunity  in  the  Swan  chamber  when 
the  assizes  were  over,  and  before  the  judges  left  the  town. 

Taking  the  high  sheriff's  advice,  Bunyan's  wife  made  her 
way  to  "the  Swan  chamber,  where  the  two  judges  and  many 
justices  and  gentry  of  the  county  were  in  company  together." 
The  scene  which  followed  has  become  classic  in  the  fair  annals 
of  Puritan  womanhood.  Making  her  way  into  the  presence  of 
all  these  great  people  Elizabeth  Bunyan,  "  with  abashed  face 
and  trembling  heart,"  turned  to  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  saying 
"  My  lord,  I  make  bold  to  come  once  again  to  your  lordship." 
She  then  pleaded  for  her  husband  as  only  a  woman  can ;  pleaded 
that  he  had  not  been  lawfully  convicted,  and  that  he  had  never 
answered  to  the  indictment.  At  this.  Judge  Twisden  spoke 
angrily  to  her,  and  Chester  was  especially  severe  upon  her, 
saying,  petulantly,  over  and  again,  "It  is  recorded,  woman, 
it  is  recorded."  Turning  from  this  hard-hearted  country 
justice  to  the  more  hopeful  pitifulness  of  Sir  Matthew 
Hale,  she  told  him  how  she  had  been  to  London — a  serious 
journey  for  u  peasant  woman  in  tliose  day.s — to  see  if  she  could 
obtain  her  husband's  liberty ;  how  she  had  there  delivered  a 
jjetition  to  Lord  Barkwood,  which  he  had  showed  to  some 
other  peers  in  the  House  of  Lords,  who  said  they  could  not 
release  him,  but  had  committed  his  releasoment  to  the  jud^-cs 
at  the  next  assize;  to  the  judges,  therefore,  she  had  come  with 
the  warrant  of  the  peers  to  make  her  appeal.  Sir  ^latthew 
seemed  as  if  he  did  not  hear  her  ;  but  Chester,  true  to  himself, 
kept  on  saying,  '•  He  is  convicted"  and  "it  is  recorded,"  and 
u.S8ured  the  judges  that  tlris  husband  of  hers  was  u  pestilent 


158  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  vir. 

fellow,  the  like  of  whom  there  was  not  in  the  country.     At  this 
point    Twisden   interposed,  by  asking  her   if   Bunyan  would 
leave  off  preaching  ?   If  he  would,  she  might  send  for  him.    "  My 
lord,"  said  she,  "  he  dares  not  leave  preaching  as  long  as  he 
can  speak."     What,  then,  was  the  use  of  talking  about  him? 
asked  Twisden,  to  which  she  made  reply  that  her  husband  simply 
desired  to  live  peaceably  and  to  follow  his  calling,  and  so  main- 
tain his  family.     "  There  is  need  for  this,  my  lord,"  adds  she, 
"for  I  have  four  small  children  that  cannot  help  themselves,  of 
which  one  is  blind,  and  we  have  nothing  to  live  upon  but  the 
charity  of  good  people."     "  Hast  thou  four  children  ?  "   asked 
Sir  Matthew  Hale,  pitifully.    "  Thou  art  but  a  young  woman  to 
have  four  children."    "  My  lord,"  replied  she,  "  I  am  but  mother- 
in-law  to  them,  having  not  been  married  to  him  yet  full  two 
years.     Indeed,  I  was  with  child  when  my  husband  was  first 
apprehended  ;    but   being  young   and  unaccustomed   to  such 
things,  I  being  smayed  at  the  news,  fell  into  labour,  and  so 
continued  for  eight  days,   and  then   was  delivered  ;  but   my 
child  died."     Sir  Matthew,  feeling  the  pathos  of  this  touching 
story,  exclaimed,  "  Alas,  poor  woman  !  "     But  Twisden,  a  man 
of   quite   another  mould,  rudely  repelled   her,   and   told    her 
plainly  that  she  made  poverty  her  cloak,  and  that,  as  he  under- 
stood, her  husband  found  it  a  much  better  thing  to  run  up  and 
down  preaching  than   to  follow  his   calling.       "What  is  his 
calling  ?  "    asked  Sir  Matthew,  to  which  a  chorus  of  voices 
replied,   "A  tinker,  my  lord!"       "Yes,"  said  the  dauntless 
woman,  "  and  because  he  is  a  tinker  and  a  poor  man,  therefore 
he  is  despised  and  cannot  have  justice."     Sir  Matthew,  appar- 
ently still  sympathizing,  advised  her  either  to  apply  herself  to 
the  King  or  sue  out  her  husband's  pardon,  or  obtain  a  writ  of 
error.     There  was  not  much  help  for  the  anxious  woman  in  all 
this  jargon  of  the  law  ;  but  there  was  more  sympathy  in  it 
than  the  unrelenting  Chester  cared  to  hear.      He  grew  more 
angry,  and  said,  "  My  lord,  he  will  preach  and  do  what  he 
lists;"  but,  replied  she,  "he  preacheth  nothing  but  the  word 
of  God  !  "  Twisden,  too,  irritated  both  at  the  persistent  Avoman 
and  his  more  lenient  colleague,  went  into  a  great  rage.    Eliza- 
beth told  her  husband  afterwards  that  she  thought  he  would 
have  struck  her.     "  He  i^reach  the  word  of  God  !  "  cried  he  ; 


1661.]  THE  CHAT  EL  OF  BERNE.  159 

"  lie  runneth  up  and  down  and  doeth  harm."  "  Xo,  my  lord," 
said  she,  '*  it  is  not  so ;  God  hath  owned  liim,  and  done  much 
good  by  him."  "God!"  exclaimed  the  angry  man;  "his 
doctrine  is  the  doctrine  of  the  devil !  "  "  My  lord,"  said  she, 
"  when  the  righteous  Judge  shall  appear,  it  will  bo  known  that 
his  doctrine  is  not  the  doctrine  of  the  devil !  "  Elizabeth 
Bunyan  was  simply  an  English  peasant  woman,  could  she 
have  spoken  with  more  dignity  had  she  been  a  crowned 
queen  ? 

But  the  days  had  then  come  in  England  when,  for  a  gene- 
ration, truth  had  fallen  in  the  street  and  equity  could  not 
enter.  Nothing  came  of  her  pitiful  plea,  and  while  she  wont 
back  to  her  lonely  cottage  her  husband  tarried  in  his  cheerless 
den.  All  through  that  winter  Bunyan  remained  in  Bedford 
gaol,  and  when,  in  1662,  the  Spring  Assizes  came  round  again,  he 
made  the  most  strenuous  cfibrts  to  get  his  case  brought  on  in 
court.  But  the  justices  and  the  clerk  of  the  peace  did  so  work 
it  about  that,  though  his  name  was  at  first  inserted  into  the 
calendar  among  the  felons,  it  was  again  withdrawn.  "  Thus 
was  I  hindered  and  prevented  at  that  time  also  from  appearing 
before  the  judge,  and  left  in  prison.     Farewell." 


VIII. 

TWELVE  YEAES  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL. 

Till  recent  years  there  was  a  rooted  tradition  and  belief  that 
the  picturesque  old  gaol  which  had  stood  so  long  on  Bedford 
bridge,  and  was  taken  down  in  1765,  was  the  place  in  which 
Bunyan  spent  the  many  years  of  his  prison  life.  This  was 
accepted  without  question  till  Mr.  Blower  of  Bedford,  in  a 
letter  to  a  local  paper,  first  called  attention  to  the  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  an  entire  reception  of  the  current  belief.  Sub- 
sequently, in  the  year  1868,  Mr.  AVyatt  of  the  same  town  read 
a  paper  before  the  Archaeological  Society,  sustaining  the  position 
taken  by  Mr.  Blower.  He  pointed  out,  for  example,  that 
Bunyan's  ofience  was  committed,  not  in  the  borough,  but 
within  the  county  jurisdiction,  and  that  the  warrant  by  vir- 
tue of  which  he  was  apprehended  was  issued  by  a  county 
magistrate,  whereas  the  prison  on  the  bridge  was  the  town 
gaol  and  under  the  sole  jurisdiction  of  the  municipal  autho- 
rities. A  reference  to  the  "  Corporation  Records "  also 
showed  that  in  the  year  1671,  when  Bunyan  was  a  prisoner, 
the  bridge  dungeon  was  swept  away  by  a  great  flood  in  the 
river.  The  entry  is  as  follows  :  "  Whereas,  through  a  sodain 
inundacon  of  y''  waters  of  Ouse  the  ston  house  called  y^  Bridge 
house  in  this  towne  is  totalie  fallen  down  and  y®  rest  much 
shaken  and  like  to  fall,  and  y®  foundacon  or  pile  whereon  it 
stood,  a  great  part  washed  away,  &c."  In  this  dismantled  con- 
dition the  Bridge  Prison  remained  from  1671  till  1675,  so  that 
the  last  few  months  of  Bunyan's  imprisonment  must  have  been 
spent  elsewhere,  even  if  the  former  part  had  not.  But  it  is 
tolerably  certain  that  the  whole  of  the  twelve  years'  imprison- 
ment was  spent  in  the  County  Gaol.  Mr.  Wyatt's  position  is 
supported  by  two  or  three  considerations  to  which  he  himself 


1661.]  TWELVE  YEARS  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL.  101 

does  not  refer.  Not  only  was  Banyan  arrested  under  the 
warrant  of  a  county  magistrate  for  a  county  offence,  but,  as  wo 
might  expect,  he  was  tried  also  at  the  Quarter  Sessions  for  the 
county,  and  before  county  magistrates  only  ;  and  when  at 
length  his  imprisonment  was  over  and  the  time  of  his  release 
had  come,  the  king's  pardon,  under  the  great  seal,  described 
him  still  as  "  a  prisoner  in  the  common  gaol  for  our  cnmifi/  of 
Bedford." 

And  then,  again,  eycn  if  the  prison  on  the  bridge  were  at  the 
disposal  of  the  county  authorities,  which  it  was  not,  it  was  only 
a  small  apartment  capable  of  holding  some  six  or  eight  prisoners 
at  most ;  and  we  happen  to  know  that  Bunyan  had  very  many 
more  companions  in  gaol.  His  friend,  who  wrote  the  anony- 
mous sketch  of  his  life  published  in  1700,  tells  us  that  on  the 
occasion  of  a  visit  he  paid  him  in  prison,  '*  there  was  above 
three-score  dissenters  besides  himself  there,  taken  but  a  little 
before  at  a  religious  meeting  at  Kaistoe,  in  the  county  of  Bod- 
ford  ;  besides  two  eminent  dissenting  ministers,  to  wit,  ^Ir. 
Wheeler  and  Mr.  Dun  (both  very  well  known  in  Bedfordshire, 
though  long  since  with  God),  by  which  means  the  prison  was 
very  much  crouded."  It  is  a  simple  impossibility  that  these 
sixty  people  could  have  been  locked  up  in  the  prison  on  the 
bridge,  wliich  would  have  been  crowded  to  suffocation  by  a 
fifth  pnrt  of  the  sixty. 

Yet  wliile  thus  putting  the  case  on  that  side  even  more 
strongly  tlian  !Mr.  Wyatt  did,  I  do  not  l'vv\  called  upon  at  the 
same  time  to  give  up  with  him  the  long-standing  tradition 
that  Bunyan  was  imprisoned  in  the  dungeon  overlooking  Bed- 
ford river,  and  that  it  was  there  he  dreamed  his  wonderful 
dream.  '1  his  tradition  goes  back  at  least  to  the  time  when 
Bunyan's  own  grandehildren  were  living  in  the  town,  and  is 
therefore  not  lightly  to  be  set  aside.  I  think  it  will  be  shown 
hereaft(T  that  there  is  no  need  to  set  it  aside.  It  is  part  of  the 
truth,  though  not  the  whole  truth  ;  and  all  the  recjuirements  of 
the  case  are  met  l)y  the  t'Xplaiiation  that  iJuuyan  was  again  in 
gaol  after  an  interval  of  liberty,  and  that  it  is  to  this,  the  last 
of  bin  imprisonments,  that  the  ohl  tradition  refers.  In  thiH 
chapter  wo  can  only  concern  ourwelvcs  with  his  first  imprison- 
ment ;  but  when,  in  u  subsequent  part  of  the  narrative,  we  have 


162  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  viii. 

the  whole  of  the  evidence  before  us,  I  think  we  shall  be  led  to 
the  conclusion  that  Bunyan  was  in  both  prisons  at  Bedford,  that 
his  long  imprisonment  of  nearly  twelve  years  was  in  the  County 
Gaol,  for  county  offences,  and  that  his  shorter  term  of  six 
months  was  passed  in  the  prison  on  the  bridge,  for  the  offence 
of  preaching  within  the  boundaries  of  the  borough.  The  tradi- 
tion of  the  latter  imprisonment  probably  survived  that  of  the 
former,  because  it  came  three  years  later,  and  after  he  had 
risen  into  greater  prominence  as  the  minister  of  the  Bedford 
church. 

The  County  Gaol  in  which  Bunyan  spent  the  twelve  years  of 
his  life,  from  1660  to  1672,  was  taken  down  in  1801.  It  stood 
on  what  is  now  the  vacant  piece  of  land  at  the  corner  of  the 
High  Street  and  Silver  Street,  used  as  a  market-place.  Silver 
Street,  so  named  because  it  was  the  quarter  where  the  Jews 
in  early  times  trafficked  in  the  precious  metals,  was  afterwards 
known  as  Gaol  Lane,  but,  since  the  disappearance  of  the  gaol, 
has  become  Silver  Street  again.  The  only  trace  of  the  gaol 
itself  still  left  on  the  spot  is  the  rough  stone  wall  on  the  north 
side  of  the  market-place,  which  was  the  wall  of  the  small  court- 
yard used  by  the  prisoners.  From  the  interior  of  the  prison, 
a  massive  door  made  of  three  transverse  layers  of  oak,  fastened 
through  with  iron  bolts,  and  having  bars  across  an  open  centre, 
is  preserved  in  the  vestry  of  Bunyan  Meeting,  Bedford,  as  a 
relic  of  Bunyan's  imprisonment ;  but  no  sketch  of  the  building 
itself  of  any  kind  has  come  down  to  us.  There  were  iron- 
grated  windows  on  the  Gaol  Lane,  or  Silver  Street  side,  and 
the  older  people  of  the  last  generation  used  to  tell  how  the 
prisoners  hung  purses  out  of  these  windows  on  Sunday  morn- 
ings, asking  the  pitiful  help  of  such  passers-by  as  were  on 
their  way  to  church  or  chapel.  John  Howard,  in  his  quiet 
matter-of-fact  manner,  describes  the  gaol  as  consisting  mainly 
of  a  ground  floor  and  first  floor.  The  ground  floor  was 
appropriated  to  felons,  and  had  two  day  rooms,  besides  sleep- 
ing rooms.  There  were  also  two  dungeons  underground,  one 
in  total  darkness,  and  reached  by  a  descent  of  eleven  steps. 
The  first  floor,  which  was  for  debtors,  consisted  of  four  sleep- 
ing rooms  and  one  common  day  room,  which  was  also  used 
for  a  chapel,  all  the  rooms  being   eight-and-a-half  feet  high. 


1661.]         TWELVE  TEARS  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL.  lf.3 

There  was  also  a  small  courtyard   which   was  common   to   all 
the  prisoners.* 

Such,  so  far  as  we  can  reproduce  it  now,  was  the  place  wliich 
was  to  be  John  Bunyan's  home  during  the  next  twelve  years 
of  his  life.  lie  took  in  with  him  two  familiar  friends.  "  There 
also,"  says  his  visitor,  "  I  surveyed  his  library,  the  least  and 
yet  the  best  that  ever  I  saw,  consisting  only  of  two  books — a 
"  Bible  "  and  the  "  Book  of  Martyrs."  A  copy  of  Foxe's 
"  Book  of  Martyrs,"  the  black  letter  edition  of  IG-il,  in  three 
volumes  folio,  with  the  name,  John  Bunyan,  written  in  large 
capitals  at  the  foot  of  each  of  the  three  title-pages,  is  now  in 
the  library  of  the  Literary  and  Scientific  Institute  at  Bedford. 
The  third  volume  has  both  the  name  and  the  date,  thus — John 
Bunyan,  1662.  Southey  saw  the  book  in  1829,  and  describes 
it  as  having  been  purchased  in  the  year  1780  by  Mr.  Wontncr, 
of  the  Minories,  from  whom  it  descended  to  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
Pamell.  In  two  of  the  three  volumes  there  are  scribblings  of 
rhyme  on  the  margin  of  various  pages.  These  verses  are  the 
merest  doggerel,  and  one  of  them  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of 
the  rest.  Under  the  story  of  John  IIuss,  in  the  first  volume, 
there  is  the  following  : — 

"  Hearo  is  John  hus  that  you  may  see, 
Ui-sc'd  in  (Il'liI  with  iill  iiulity  ; 
But  now  leet  us  follow  and  look  one  him, 
NVhcar  he  ia  full  field  in  deed  to  the  brim." 

One  is  somewhat  staggered  on  reading  this  to  find  so  consum- 
mate a  judge  as  Southey,  saying  that  it  is  "undoubtedly 
Bunyan's  own  composition."  There  are  three  reasons  which 
seem  to  me  conclusive  against  this  opinion  :  (1)  Nowhere  in 
any  document  indisputably  Bunyan's  is  there  any  approach  to 
doggerel  tm  miserably  bad  us  this  ;  (2)  the  handwriting  is  very 
different  to  that  which  we  know  to  be  his  ;  (3)  And,  most  con- 
clusive of  all,  the  handwriting  is  the  same  as  that  of  another 
signature.  This  is  on  the  verso  of  tlio  frontispiece  portrait  in 
the  first  volume,  and  runs  thus:  "Simon  Hancock  his  Book 
May  li  Day  ITlo."  I'liis  secmH  to  settle  the  point  as  to  the 
uuthcnticity  of  the  lines  witliout  touching  the  question  of  the 

•  Stale   r.f  Iht    I'ntoiu    in    Lmjlainl  and   H'atfi.     By   John   lluwurd.     Thiid 
Edition,  17H<0,  p.  283. 

m2 


164  JOHN  BUNYAJSr.  [chap.viii. 

genuineness  of  the  Bunyan  signatures  on  tlie  title-page,  the  ink 
of  which  is  undoubtedly  old ;  but,  being  in  large  printed 
capitals,  not  decisive. 

The  hardships  of  Bunyan's  prison  life  during  these  twelve 
years  have  been  variously  described,  being  now  exaggerated 
and  now  minimised,  according  to  the  writer's  point  of  view. 
William  Parry,  then  of  Little  Baddow,  and  afterwards  of 
AYymondly  College,  wrote,  in  1790,  a  pamphlet  on  "  Religious 
Tests,"  showing,  from  Bunyan's  case,  as  he  might  fairly  do,  that 
as  a  rule  disabilities  thus  created  act  most  prejudicially  against 
the  worthiest  men.  But  in  describing  Bunyan's  sufferings  he 
gave  somewhat  too  free  rein  to  his  imagination.  He  pictured 
the  damp  and  dreary  cell,  the  narrow  chink  through  which 
came  scanty  rays  of  light  making  visible  the  abode  of  woe,  the 
prisoner,  pale  and  emaciated,  seated  on  the  humid  earth,  the 
blind  child  in  pensive  sadness  near.  Summers'  suns  come  round, 
but  bring  to  him  no  reviving  rays  ;  seasons  return,  but  not  for 
him  is  the  cheering  light  of  day  or  smiling  bloom  of  spring  or 
sound  of  human  joy.  The  writer  asks.  Who  is  this  unfortunate 
captive?  What  is  his  guilt?  What  his  crimes?  Is  he  a 
traitor,  or  a  parricide,  or  some  vile  incendiary  ?  No,  he  is  a 
Christian  sufferer.  It  is  honest  John  Bunyan  who  has  been 
twelve  years  here  for  teaching  plain  country  people  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Scripture  and  the  practice  of  virtue.  Such  was 
Parry's  way  of  putting  the  case,  perhaps  a  little  sensationally  ; 
but  it  was  merely  adopted  as  illustrative  to  an  argument,  not 
as  descriptive  of  the  facts,  and  when  some  deduction  is  made 
on  this  account  from  the  style,  the  argument  is  sound,  the 
appeal  is  fair,  and  it  is  a  righteous  protest  against  unrighteous 
tyranny. 

But  upon  this  passage,  writer  after  writer  on  the  other  side 
has  made  fierce  onslaught,  and  by  way  of  resisting  exaggeration 
in  one  direction  has  gone  to  another  extreme  and  extenuated 
everything.  Mr.  Froude  is  perhaps  the  most  recent,  as  he  is 
the  most  notable  instance  in  point.  He  almost  seems,  in  his 
Life  of  Bunyan,*  to  have  accepted  a  brief  on  behalf  of  Bunyan's 
persecutors.  To  him  they  appear,  on  the  whole,  to  be  patient, 
estimable  persons  who,  unfortunately  for  themselves,  had  to 
*  English  Men  of  Letters.     Bunyan.     By  J.  A.  Froude.     1880. 


1661.]  TTTELVE  TEARS  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL.  165 

deal  with  an  impracticable  and  wrong-headed  man.    There  was, 

he  thinks,  every  desire  on  their  part  to  avoid  extremities ;   and 

if  Bunyan  had  only  reflected,  he  would   have  seen  in  Venner's 

insurrection  a  real  reason  for  the  temporary  enforcement  of  tlie 

Act  against  conventicles.       As  that  insurrection,  however,  did 

not  take  place  till  Banyan  had  been  in  prison  six  weeks  it  is 

not  easy  to  see  how  it  could  account  for  his  own  arrest,  and 

as  this  enforcement,  which  is  described  as  temporary,  lasted  in 

Banyan's  case  for  twelve  years,  no  amount  of  reflection  could 

have  enabled  him  to  see  the  real  reason  of  it  so  clearly  as  Mr. 

Froude  seems  to  have  done.     Banyan,  he  says,  was  not  asked 

to  give  up  preaching,  only  public  preaching,  that  is  to  say — 

though  speaking  to  a  few  people  in  a  cottage  at  Samscll  was 

plainly  illegal — these   excellent  magistrates  would   not   have 

made  it  penal  for  him  to  speak  to  a  neighbour  whom  he  might 

chance  to  meet  in  the  High  Street.     England  was  really  free 

England  still,  and  Bedfordshire  justices  went   to  the  utmost 

limits  of  indulgence,    only,    unfortunately,    Bunyan    did    not 

understand    the  law  or   appreciate  their    forbearance.      They 

were  really  aiming  at  his  good  if  he  had  only  known  it.     They 

kept  him  in  prison  to  save  him  from  transportation  across  the 

seas,  and   the  most  real  kindness  they  could  show  him  was  to 

leave  him  where  he  was. 

Then,  as  to  his  imprisonment.  Much  eloquent  declamation, 
Mr.  Froude  thinks,  has  been  wasted  upon  it.  That  imprison- 
ment might  have  ended  at  any  time  if  only  Bunyan,  surren- 
dering an  Englishman's  valued  right  of  free  speech,  would 
have  confined  his  addresses  to  private  circles,  how  private  and 
whv  private,  Mr.  Froudo  does  not  say.  It  did  end  after  six 
years,  and  though  he  was  arrested  again,  at  the  end  of  six  years 
more  he  was  again  let  go.  It  is  certainly  Iruo  tliat  a  third 
time  he  was  again  taken  prisoner,  but  lliis  third  time  lie  was 
detained  only  a  few  months,  and  tliat  only  as  a  matter  ol'  form. 
AftcT  this  release  the  policy  of  the  Government  was  changed, 
and  he  was  then  free  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  "What  could  l)0 
simpler  or  more  satisfactory  'f  We  feel  ourselves  almost  con- 
vinced bv  thi.-;  kind  of  reasoning,  were  it  not  that  as  wo  listen 
llie  suspicion  creeps  upon  us  (hat  it  might  ho  possible  in  this 
way  to  defend  the  most  iniquitous  law  over  enacted,  and  lo 


166  JOHN  BUNYAJSr.  [chap.  viii. 

palliate  tlie  most  grievous  tyranny  under  which,  human  life 
was  ever  degraded.  Resistance  to  wrong  is  the  very  life-breath 
of  freedom.  If  men  tamely  submitted  to  despotism,  despotism 
would  be  a  perpetual  inheritance.  Some  brave  soul  must  bleed 
if  ever  unrighteous  laws  are  to  die,  some  heroic  spirit  must 
gather  the  sheaf  of  spears  into  his  own  breast  if  ever  the 
fatherland  is  to  be  free.  Surely  Mr.  Froude  is  writing  in  a 
nobler  strain  and  worthier  of  his  better  self  when  he  afterwards 
applauds  the  constancy  of  the  prisoner  in  Bedford  gaol,  and 
says  :  "Be  true  to  yourself  whatever  comes,  even  if  damnation 
comes.  Better  hell  with  an  honest  heart  than  heaven  with 
cowardice  and  insincerity  !  " 

The  gaol  at  Bedford  was  probably  not  one  of  the  worst  in 
those  times.  It  certainly  was  not  so  hideous  as  some  of  those 
— the  one  at  Ijaunceston,  for  example — in  which  George  Fox 
sometimes  found  himself.  But  very  few  prisons  in  England  in 
the  seventeenth  century  were  even  decent,  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  one  at  Bedford  was  an  exception  to 
the  general  rule.  Even  in  John  Howard's  time  the  day  rooms 
were  without  fire-places,  and  the  prisoners  slept  on  straw,  £5  a 
year  being  allowed  to  the  gaoler  for  the  purpose.  In  his  day, 
too,  gaol  fever  broke  out,  carrying  off  several  of  the  prisoners, 
William  Daniel,  the  surgeon,  and  many  of  the  townspeople 
outside.*  A  century  earlier  the  state  of  things  was  probably 
still  worse.  There  is  contemporary  evidence  that  it  was  not 
better.  John  Bubb,  who  was  in  Bedford  gaol  in  1666,  and 
therefore  at  the  same  time  as  Bunyan,  sent  up  a  pitiful  petition 
to  the  king,  stating  that  he  had  been  in  this  prison  for  a 
twelvemonth,  in  which  time  he  says,  "  He  hath  suffered  as 
much  misery  as  soe  dismall  a  place  could  be  capable  to  inflict, 
and  soe  is  likely  to  perish  without  His  Majestie's  further 
compassion  and  mercy  towards  him."  Bubb  sent  also  a 
petition  to  Sir  William  Morton,  one  of  the  judges  of  assize 
at  Bedford,  praying  to  be  released  from  prison,  "  where  he 
hath  long  remained  in  a  calamitous  condicon."t 

♦  State  of  Prisons,  1785,  p.  283. 

t  State  Papers,  Lorn.,  Chas.  II.,  1666.  This  man  was  ultimately  released. 
He  had  been  charged  with  killing  George  Edwards,  in  a  drunken  brawl  at  Leigh- 
ton  Buzzard,  but  the  doctor  at  Eversholt,  and  Dorothy  Sparks,   a  gentlewoman 


1661.]         TWELVE  YEARS  IN  BELF ORB  GAOL.  167 

But  It  may  be  said  tliat  tliouo^b  money  cannot  in  these  days 
purchase  mitigations  and  comforts  for  prisoners,  it  could  in 
those,  and  Mr.  Froude  is  of  opinion  that  the  Church  at  Bedford 
would  see  to  it  that  Bunyan  had  them.  "  To  have  abandoned 
to  want  their  most  distinguished  pastor  would  have  been  in- 
tensely discreditable"  to  them,  and,  for  his  part,  he  will  not 
"charge  so  reputable  a  community  with  a  neglect  so  scanda- 
lous." This  view  of  the  case,  however,  appears  less  forcible 
when  we  remember  that,  as  indeed  Mr.  Froude  himself  a  {q^ 
pages  further  on  tells  us,  Bunyan  was  really  not  chosen  pastor 
at  Bedford  till  after  his  release.  He  was  therefore  not  their 
minister  at  all  till  1672,  when  his  imprisonment  was  over,  and 
he  certainly  could  not  be  said  to  be  distinguished  till  six  years 
later  still,  when,  in  1()78,  his  "Pilgrim"  saw  the  light.  The 
little  community  of  which  he  was  then  simply  a  private  member, 
would  doubtless  do  all  they  could  for  a  brother  so  greatly 
beloved,  but  they  could  not  do  all  they  would.  For  many  of 
them  were  themselves  at  various  times  his  fellow-prisoners  in 
Bedford  gaol ;  others  had  to  flee  from  their  homes,  to  avoid 
arrest ;  and  many  were  stripped  of  their  possessions,  to  pay  the 
ruinous  fines  imposed  upon  them  as  Nonconformists. 

That  Bunyan  had  an  amount  of  liberty  which  in  the  case  of 
a  pri.soner  nowadays  would  be  simply  impossible,  is  beyond  all 
question.  But  considerable  mistakes  havebeeumade  inthisniatter 
by  writers  who  have  applied  to  the  whole  of  his  imprisonment  a 
statement  which  Bunyan  carefully  confines  to  the  six  months 
between  tlie  Autumn  Assizes  of  KJGl  and  the  Spring  Assizes  of 
HjfJ2,  when  he  was  doing  his  utmost  to  get  his  name  inserted 
in  the  calendar  of  prisoners  for  trial.  This,  for  obvious  reasons, 
was  an  exceptional  period,  and  he  carefully  notes  that  it  was 
"  between  these  two  assizes  I  had  bv  mv  Jailor,  some  libertv 
granted  me,  more  than  at  the  first,  and  how  I  followed  my 
wonted  course  of  preaching,  taking  all  occasions  that  was  put 
into  my  hand  to  visit   the  people  of  God,"  "also  having  sonie- 

lurgtim  of  g(^>J  rc-j)ut<'  ut  Wobum,  iitloHtiKl  tlmt  Ivlwiirdu  livod  a  moiitli  iiftt-r  tho 
wound  pT^ivon  him  by  llubb.  A  good  dial  of  irit^roHt  wim  Uikcii  in  Hubb*H  dw*-, 
and  by  rwjuent  of  FranciH  Wini(ut«,  of  HiirliiiKton,  a  colloction  wuj«  inado  fur  Jiim 
in  T'j'ldinnt'in  f'hurrh,  amounting  to  I  1h.  7d.  Ono  wondcni  whothur  Mr.  Winguto 
took  any  farlbur  inUruiit  in  liubb'a  fuilow-priiKtuur,  liiinyun  ? 


1G8  JOHN  BUNT  AN.  [chap.  viii. 

what  more  liberty  I  did  go  to  see  Christians  at  London."  But 
while  he  tells  us  this  he  tells  us  also  that  this  unusual  liberty 
soon  came  to  an  end,  for  "  my  enemies  hearing  of  it  were  so 
angry  that  they  had  almost  cast  my  Jailor  out  of  his  place, 
thi  eatening  to  indite  him,  and  to  do  what  they  could  against 
him  ....  Whereupon  my  liberty  was  more  straightened  than 
it  was  before  ;  so  that  I  must  not  look  out  of  the  door." 

This  necessity  for  greater  accuracy  applies  also  to  the  state- 
ment often  made,  that  during  his  imprisonment  Bunyan  was 
present  at  the  meetings  of  the  Church  of  whichi  he   was   a 
member.     This  is  true  as  applied  to  some  portions  of  the  time, 
but  it  is  also  true  that  from  the  28th  October,  1661,  to  the 
9tli  October,  1668,  or  for  the  long   period  of  seven  years  out 
of  the  twelve,  his  name  does  not  once  occur  in  the  records  of  the 
Church.     After  that,  for  the  next  four  years  it  occurs  occasion- 
ally.    The  probability  is  that  his  experience  of  hardship  varied 
as  the    gaol   administration    varied.     A  contemporary  writer 
tells  us  that  he  was  "  sometimes  under  cruel   and  oppressive 
gaolers  in  an  uncomfortable  and  close  prison,"  and  another  says 
that  on  the  commencement  of  his    second  term  of  imprison- 
ment in  1666,  "Even  the  jailor  took  such  pity  of  his  rigorous 
sufferings  that  he  did  as  the  Egyptian  jailor  did  to  Joseph,  put 
all  care  and  trust  into  his  hands."     The  matter  is  very  simple. 
Cynical  pooh-poohing  of  painful  facts  on  the  one  side  is  just  as 
foolish  and  as  needless  as  eloquent  declamation  on  the  other. 
Bunyan  himself  never  whines  over  his  sufferings  ;  he  was  too 
manly   fo"  that.      He  deliberately    made   his   choice,    and   as 
deliberately  he  accepted  the  consequences  of  his  choice.     He 
gave  utterance  to   no  bitter  or  foolish  repinings  on  his  own 
behalf;  nor  would  he  have  wished  any  one   else  to  do  this 
for    him.      At  the  same  time  we  cannot  forget  that  twelve 
years'  imprisonment  more  or  less  rigorous  was  inflicted  on  a 
man  of  two-and-thirty  with  the  fulness  of  life  and  love  of  action 
which   that   age   brings  ;  that  with  strong  affection  for   wife 
and  children,  especially  for  his  poor  blind  child,  he  was  pre- 
vented from  earning  for  them  that  which  they  needed  ;  that 
from  the  very  beginning  he  felt,  as  he  says,  like  a  man  who  at 
the  bidding  of  conscience  was  pulling  down  his  house  upon  the 
heads  of  those  he  loved  best ;  and  when  we  remember  also  that 


1(561.]         TTTELVE  TEARS  IX  BEDFOr.D  GAOL.  169 

lis  a  personal  friend  of  his  tells  us,  "  When  he  came  abroad  " 
again  after  his  imprisonment,  "  he  found  his  temporal  all'airs 
were  gone  to  wreck,  and  he  had  as  to  them  to  begin  again  as  if 
he  had  newly  come  into  the  world ;  "  I  say  when  we  remember 
all  this  as  being  inflicted  on  a  man  of  genius  and  fine  feeling 
like  Bunyan,  and  for  such  offences  as  his,  it  is  difficult  to  pre- 
vent surprise  deepening  into  a  stronger  feeling  when  writers, 
who  at  other  times  seem  to  value  human  freedom  and  hijih- 
minded  conscientiousness,  thus  in  a  covert  way  apologize  for 
tyranny,  and  reduce  conscientiousness  to  an  obstinacy  which  is 
simply  perverse.* 

To  a  man  confined  in  prison  for  so  many  years  during  the 
most  vigorous  period  of  life,  the  right  occupation  of  his  time 
must  have  been  felt  to  be  a  somewhat  serious  question.  But  in 
those  days  prisoners  had  to  provide  their  own  maintenance  for 
the  most  part,  and  this  necessity  would  stand  first.  The  anony- 
mous friend  who  first  made  Bunyan's  acquaintance  in  prison 
tells  us  that  he  did  not,  while  shut  up  there,  "  spend  his  time 
in  supine  and  careless  manner,  nor  Eat  the  Bread  of  Idleness, 
for  I  have  been  witness  that  his  own  hands  have  ministered  to 
his  and  his  fumilie's  necessities,  making  many  hundred  gross  of 
long  Tagg'd  Laces,  to  fill  up  the  vacancies  of  his  time,  which 
he  had  learn'd  for  that  purpose  since  he  had  been  in  Prison." 

Besides  this,  and  possibly  other  handicraft,  which  occupied  the 
bulk  of  his  time,  Bunyan  still  held  the  position  of  .spiritual 
counsellor  to  some  who  were  permitted  to  bring  their  affairs  to 
him  in  prison.  In  his  life  and  death  of  ^Ir.  J5adman  he  says 
"  ^\'hen  I  was  in  prison  there  came  a  woman  to  me  that  was 
under  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  So  I  asked  her,  she  being  a 
stranger  to  me,  what  she  had  to  say  to  mo."  It  turned  out 
that  she  was  in  the  service  of  a  shopkeeper  at  Wellingborough, 

•  There  is  a  well-known  stfiry  told  about  Bunyan  to  tho  effect  that  when  on  one 
occuKion  hiu  gaoler  allowed  him  to  go  forth  at  large  ho  was  seized  with  a  feeling 
of  mlHgiving,  and  camo  back  before  tho  g'lulcr  expected  him.  Ho  Imd  not 
returned  long  before  one  of  tho  magi.stratcB  came  to  enquire  if  all  tlio  prisoners 
wore  in,  and  especially  if  John  Bunyan  was  safe.  Tho  gaoler,  immenNely 
relieved,  is  reported  to  have  told  Bunyan  he  might  now  go  out  wlien  he  liked,  for 
that  he  knew  better  when  to  come  than  he  c<iul<l  t<  11  him. 

I  do  not  know  upon  what  authority  this  story  rests,  there  is  no  contomp<iniry 
m<;rition  of  it,  and  a  jirei  iw-ly  similar  slory  is  told  concfrniiig  himstlf  \t\  John 
GralLan,  a  (Quaker,  who  was  couliued  in  Derby  gaol  iu  lUbii. 


170  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  viii. 

whose  box  slie  had  robbed  again  and  again,  and  smitten  with 
remorse  she  came  to  ask  Bunyan  what  she  should  do.  Though 
in  prison,  therefore,  he  was  the  spiritual  guide  and  confidant 
of  some  who  were  outside,  and  he  had  still  upon  mind  and 
heart  the  spiritual  care  of  those  who  had  heard  his  sermons  or 
heard  of  his  fame  like  this  conscience-stricken  woman  from 
Wellingborough. 

Then  again,  though  a  prisoner,  he  was  a  preacher  still. 
There  were  times  during  those  twelve  years  when  Bedford 
gaol  was  crowded  almost  beyond  its  capacity,  and  that  too  with 
saintly  men  and  women  who  valued  the  truth  of  God — Samuel 
Fenn,  John  Fenn,  and  many  more  of  his  fellow-members  in 
the  Bedford  Church  were  there  as  his  companions  in  tribula- 
tion. John  Donne,  the  recently  ejected  rector  of  Pertenhall, 
was  there  also,  so  were  "William  Wheeler,  the  ejected  rector  of 
Cranfield,  and  John  Wright,  the  pious  saddler  of  Blunham. 
John  Donne  was  in  the  habit,  after  his  ejectment,  of  gathering 
his  people  for  worship  by  night  in  Keysoe  Wood.  On  one  of 
these  occasions,  as  we  have  seen,  they  were  surprised  by  the 
officers  of  the  law,  and  the  whole  body  of  them,  some  sixty 
in  number,  marched  ofE  to  Bedford  gaol.  Thus  there  was  a 
considerable  congregation  within  the  walls  of  the  prison  itself. 
The  writer  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  knowledge  of 
these  facts  adds,  "  In  the  midst  of  the  hurry  which  so  many 
new  comers  occasioned,  I  have  heard  Mr.  Bunyan  both  preach 
and  pray  with  that  mighty  Spirit  of  Faith  and  Plerophory  of 
Divine  Assistance,  that  has  made  me  stand  and  wonder."  The 
day  room  on  the  first  floor  of  the  gaol  which,  as  John  Howard 
tells  us,  was  used  also  as  a  chapel,  was  doubtless  the  scene  of 
many  heart-stirring  times  when  the  Lord  was  felt  to  be  with 
them. 

Some  of  the  sermons  there  preached  afterwards  grew  into 
books,  and  by  means  of  friends  found  their  way  to  Francis 
Smith,  the  publisher  near  Temple  Bar,  and  through  him  to  the 
world  at  large.  In  this  way  Bunyan's  "  Holy  City,"  published 
in  1665,  came  into  shape  as  he  tells  us  himself :  "  Upon  a 
certain  first  day,  I  being  together  with  my  brethren  in  our 
prison  chamber,  they  expected  that  according  to  our  custom, 
something  should  be  spoken  out  of  the  word  for  our  mutual 


1G61.]        TfTELVE  TEARS  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL.  171 

edification  ;  but  at  that  time  I  felt  myself,  it  being  my  turn  to 
speak,  80  empty,  spiritless,  and  barren,  that  I  thought  I  should 
not  have  been  able  to  speak  among  them  so  much  as  five 
words  of  truth  with  life  and  evidence."  There  came,  how- 
ever, a  sudden  break  in  the  clouds  ;  he  seemed  to  see  in  the 
chapter  before  him  "  something  of  that  jasper  in  whose  light 
you  there  find  this  holy  city  is  said  to  come  or  descend ; " 
with  an  inward  cry  "  I  did  carry  my  meditations  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  for  a  blessing,  which  lie  did  forthwith  grant  according 
to  his  grace  ;  and  helping  me  to  set  before  my  brethren,  we 
did  all  eat  and  were  well-refreshed,  and  behold  also  that  while 
I  was  in  the  distributing  of  it,  it  so  increased  in  my  hand,  that 
of  the  fragments  that  we  left,  after  we  had  well  dined,  I 
gathered  up  this  basketful."  The  subject  grew  yet  further 
upon  him  afterwards,  and  "  through  frequent  prayer  to  God, 
what  first  with  doing  and  then  with  undoing,  and  after  that 
with  doing  again  I  thus  did  finish  it."  In  this  vivid  sketch  we 
have  doubtless  the  history  of  more  than  one  of  his  prison  books. 
For  his  good  pen  was  his  true  friend  during  those  tedious  years, 
and  we  may  gain  some  insight  into  the  growth  of  his  mind  if 
we  follow  the  order  in  which  his  books  appeared  during  his 
prison  life. 

nis  first  venture  of  a  literary  sort  after  his  arrest  was  into 
the  region  of  poetry  in  a  work  entitled  "Profitable  Meditations."* 
This  first  of  his  prison  books  was  lost  till  about  twenty  years 
ago,  when  Mr.  J.  Camden  Ilotten,  of  I'iccadilly,  found  a  copy 
bu'.ind  up  in  a  volume  of  pamphlets.  Tliis  copy,  now  in  tho 
liritisli  Museum,  is  in  quarto,  and  for  the  time  rather  hand- 
somely printed.  After  the  publisher's  name,  Francis  Smith, 
some  person — who,  judging  from  the  colour  of  the  ink  and  tho 
form  of  the  figures,  was  probably  a  contemporary — has  added 
the  date  1001  ;  and  at  the  foot  of  Ikniyan's  address  to  tho 
reader,  where  he  sul^scrihes  himself,  "  I  am  thine  in  Christ, 
John  IJuiiyan  of  liedfcjrd,"  the  same  hand  with  tho  8am(>  ink 
UH  that  of  tlie  date  has  added   tlic  words  "  A  lira-slier   now  in 

•  Prof  table  Meditation*,  Fitted  to  Man's  Different  Condition.  In  ii  Conference 
hoiy«ocn  C/iriat  and  u  Siinier.  In  iiiiio  /'rtr/iVi</(/r*.  Uy  John  IJnnyiin,  Scrvunt 
to  iho  Lord  Jihiih.  Ix)n«lon :  I'rintcd  for  Franci*  Smith,  oX  tho  Hign  of  tho 
Elephant  and  Cattle,  without  Temple  liar. 


172  JOHN  BV NY  AN.  [chap.  viii. 

prison  in  Bedford,  1664."  The  book  is  in  the  form  of  poetical 
dialogue,  lias  small  literary  merit  of  any  sort,  and  is  simply 
interesting  as  being  his  first  prison  production,  and  as  giving, 
in  a  supposed  conversation  between  Satan  and  the  tempted  soul, 
the  first  idea  of  the  parley  between  Christian  and  Apollyon  in 
the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  the  line  of  thought  being  somewhat 
similar. 

His  next  book  sent  forth  from  gaol  was  one  of  stronger  sort. 
It  is  entitled  "Praying  in  the  Spirit,"*  and  is  a  treatise  on 
prayer  by  a  man  with  whom  prayer  was  a  real  grappling  of 
soul  with  the  Eternal,  living  commerce  with  the  living  God. 
"  Much,"  says  he,  "  of  my  own  experience  could  I  here  discover." 
He  has,  he  says,  found  prayer  to  be  the  opener  of  the  heart,  to 
God,  and  a  means  by  which  the  soul,  though  empty,  is  filled. 
It  is  a  living  thing  done  in  sincerity — that  sincerity  which  is 
the  same  in  a  corner  alone,  as  it  is  before  the  face  of  the  world. 
It  knows  not  how  to  wear  two  vizards,  one  for  an  appearance 
before  men,  and  another  for  a  short  snatch  in  a  corner,  but  it 
must  have  God,  and  be  with  Him  in  the  duty  of  prayer.  It  is 
not  lip-labour  that  it  doth  regard,  for  it  is  the  heart  that  God 
looketh  at.  Prayer  carries  with  it  a  sense  of  sin  when  the  soul 
is  overpressed  with  grief  and  bitterness,  a  sweet  sense  of  mercy 
received  when  the  prayers  of  saints  are  turned  into  thanks- 
giving, and  yet  are  prayers  still ;  and  a  sense  of  mercy  to  be 
received  when  the  man  not  by  fits  and  starts,  but  mightily, 
fervently,  and  continually  groans  out  his  condition  before  the 
Lord. 

Apart  from  the  deep  spiritual  vein  in  the  book  it  is  interest- 
ing as  a  kind  of  prison  manifesto  of  the  reasons  which  made 
him  so  resolute  against  using  the  forms  found  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer.  In  his  account  of  his  imprisonment,  when 
speaking  of  the  period  of  six  months'  comparative  freedom  be- 
tween the  Autumn  and  Spring  Assizes  of  1661—2,  he  says  he 
"  took  all  occasions  that  were  put   into  his  hand  to  visit   the 

*  I  will  fray  with  the  Spirit  and  with  the  Understanding  also  ;  or  a  Discourse 
Touclnng  Prayer.  The  earliest  existing  Edition  of  this  is  the  Third.  London  : 
Printed  for  the  Author  [1685].     No  publisher's  name. 

Gweddiaf  a'r  Yspryd ;  neu,  Draethawd  ar  weddi.  Translated  by  T.  Watson, 
1790.     12". 


1662.]  TWELVE  YEARS  TX  BEDFORD   GAOL.  IT.} 

people  of  God,  exhorting  them  to  be  steadfast   in  tlic  faith   of 
Jesus  Christ,   and    to  take  heed  that  they    touched    not    the 
Common   Prayer,"   the  use  of  which  was  now  being  revived 
with  so  much  vigour  through  the  kingdom.     This  second  prison 
book,  written  in    1GG2,  and  published  the  following  year,  is 
evidently  the  substance  of  the  addresses  thus  delivered.     He 
returns  to   this   point  again   and  again.      Speaking    of   what 
prayer  really  is,  he  says  "  A  good  sense  of  sin  and  the  wrath  of 
God,  and  some  encouragement  from  God  to  come  unto  Ilim  is  a 
better  common  prayer  book  than   that  which  is   taken  out  of 
the  papistical  mass-book,  being  the  scraps  and  fragments  of 
the  devices  of  some  popes,  some  friars,  and  I  know  not  what." 
The  men  who  are  so  zealous  in  thrusting  this  book  upon  their 
neighbours,  who  are  hot  for  the  form  and  not  for  the  power  of 
praying,  judging    from  their  drunken  debauched  lives,  know 
scarcely  one  in  forty  of  them  what  it  is  to  be  born  ag.iin.     In 
somewhat  satirical  vein  he  reminds  his  readers  that  the  Apostle 
Paul,  in  his  humility,  said  he  knew  not  what  he  should  pray  for 
as  he  ought,  yet  surely  he  was  as  capable  as  any  pope  or  proud 
prelate  in  the  Church  of  Rome.      He  was  fain  to  come  off  with 
sighs  and  groans,  sighs  and  groans  too  deep  for   utterance. 
"  But  here  now  the  wise  men  of  our  days  are  so  well  skilled  as 
that  they  have  both  the  matter  and  manner  of  their  prayers  at 
their  finger-ends ;  setting  such  a  prayer  for  such  a  day,  and 
that  twenty  years  before  it  comes.     One  for  Christmas,  another 
for  Easter,  and  six  days  after  that.     They  have  also   bounded 
how  many  syllables  must  be  said  in  every  one  of  them  at  their 
public    exercises.     For  each   saint's  day  also  they  have  them 
ready  for  the  generations  yet  unborn  to  say.     They  can  tell  you 
also  when   you  shall  kneel,  wlien   you   shall   stand,  when   you 
should  abide  in  your   seats,  when  you   should  go  up   into  the 
chancel,  and  what  you  should  do  wlicn  you  come  tliere.  All  w  liich 
th(!  apostles  come  short  of,  as  not  boing  able  to  compose  so  pro- 
found a  manner."     He  is  angry  that  men  of  the  most  dissolute 
lives  should  be  counted  the  only  lujiicst  men  because  they  cotuo 
to    Church  and  say  (Jur   Father,  while   those  of  more    sober 
principles  who  scruple  vain  traditions  must  bo  looked  upon  to 
be  the  only  enemies  of  God  and   the  nation.     "  Though  a  man 
bo  willing  to  live  never  so  peaceably,  yet  because  ho  cannot  for 


174  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  viii. 

conscience'  sake  own  that  for  one  of  the  most  eminent  parts  of 
God's  worship  which  He  never  commanded,  must  he  be  looked 
upon  as  factious,  seditious,  erroneous,  heretical — a  disparage- 
ment to  the  Church,  a  seducer  of  the  people,  and  what  not." 
"  If,"  concludes  he,  "  you  desire  the  clearing  of  the  minor,* 
look  into  the  jails  of  England,  and  into  the  alehouses  of  the 
same ;  and  I  trow  you  will  find  those  that  plead  for  the  spirit 
of  prayer  in  the  jail,  and  them  that  look  after  the  form  of  men's 
inventions  only  in  the  alehouse." 

Bunyan's  third  prison-book  appeared  the  same  year  as  his 
work  on  prayer.  It  was  entitled  "  Christian  Behaviour,"!  and 
is  a  treatise  upon  a  true  life  as  the  fitting  outcome  of  a  sound 
faith.  Christian  men  should  be  living  men  ;  he  would  have 
them  take  heed  of  being  painted  fire,  wherein  there  is  no 
warmth  ;  and  painted  flowers,  which  retain  no  fragrance ;  and 
painted  trees,  wherein  is  no  fruit.  In  the  main  the  book  is  a 
plain  common-sense  utterance  on  the  duties  and  relations  of 
husbands  and  wives,  parents  and  children,  masters  and  servants  ; 
but  there  are  not  wanting  Bunyanesque  touches  here  and  there 
which  show  the  hand  from  which  they  came.  He  will  be 
brief,  for  multitude  of  words  drown  the  memory,  and  a  thing 
may  be  put  so  that  you  may  find  that  on  one  side  of  a  sheet 
which  some  are  forced  to  hunt  for  in  a  whole  quire.  Zeal 
without  knowledge  is  like  a  mettled  horse  without  eyes,  or 
like  a  sword  in  a  madman's  hands,  and  there  is  no  knowledge 
where  there  is  not  the  Word.  He  would  have  parents  take 
heed  of  filling  their  children's  heads  with  whimsies  and  un- 
profitable notions,  for  this  will  sooner  learn  them  to  be  mala- 
pert and  proud  than  sober  and  humble.  In  the  way  of  reproof 
speak  not  much  nor  often,  but  pertinent  to  them  with  all 
gravity.  He  is  severe  upon  empty  men  whose  tongue  is  tipt 
with  a  talk  and  tattle  of  religion.  In  the  Second  Part  of  the 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  there  is  a  charming  illustration  where 
Christiana,  at  the  house  of  Interpreter,  is  shown  the  diversity 

*  i.e.,  the  minor  premiss  in  his  argument. 

t  Christian  Bi'haviour ;  being  The  Fruits  of  true  Christianity  :  Showing  the 
ground  from  whence  they  flow  in  their  Godlike  Order  in  the  Duties  of  Relations. 
J3y  John  Bunyan,  a  Prisoner  of  Hope.  London:  Printed  for  F.  Smith,  at  the 
Ekphant  and  Castle,  without  Temple  Bar. 


1663.]         TWELVE  YEARS  IN  BEBFORB  GAOL.  175 

in  unity  of  the  flowers  of  the  garden,  where  some  are  better 
than  some,  yet  where  the  gardener  has  set  them  they  stand,  and 
quarrel  not  with  one  another.  The  thought  was  anticipated 
twenty  years  earlier  in  the  little  book  before  us — "  When 
Christians  stand  every  one  in  their  places  and  do  the  w^ork  of 
their  relations,  then  they  are  like  the  flowers  in  the  garden 
that  stand  and  grow  where  the  gardener  hath  planted  them, 
and  then  they  shall  both  honour  the  garden  in  which  they  are 
planted  and  the  gardener  that  hath  so  disposed  of  them.  From 
the  hyssop  on  the  wall  to  the  cedar  in  Lebanon  their  fruit  is 
their  glory."  Few  things  in  his  writings  are  more  beautiful 
than  this  other  simile,  found  also  in  this  little  book — "  Chris- 
tians are  like  the  several  flowers  in  a  garden,  that  have  upon 
each  ot  them  the  dew  of  heaven,  which,  being  shaken  with  the 
wind,  they  let  fall  their  dew  at  each  other's  roots,  whereby  they 
are  jointly  nourished,  and  become  nourishers  of  each  other." 

Charles  Doe,  in  his  Catalogue  of  Bunyan's  Writings,  assigned 
"  Christian  Behaviour  "  to  the  year  1G74.  Both  he  and  Mr. 
Otfur  were  evidently  unaware  of  this  first  edition  of  1663,  a 
copy  of  which  was  found  in  1804  by  Mr.  Tarbutt  of  Cranbrook, 
among  the  books  of  a  Nonconformist  farmer  of  Staplehurst. 
This  edition  diff'ers  from  the  later  ones  by  having  the  words 
"  By  John  Bunyan,  a  Prisoner  of  Hope,"  on  the  title-page, 
and  on  the  last  page  these  parting  words,  "  Farewell,  From  my 
place  of  confinement  in  Bedford  this  17th  of  the  4th  month, 
166*3."  This  interesting  addition  gives  new  meaning  and  pathos 
to  the  closing  sentences  of  the  book,  which  seem  to  indicate 
that  he  sometimes  expected  that  the  door  of  his  prison-cell 
might  one  day  open  upon  the  scaffold — "  Thus  have  I,  in  few 
words,  written  to  you  before  I  die,  u  word  to  provoke  you  to 
faith  and  holiness,  because  I  desire  that  you  may  have  the  life 
that  is  laid  up  for  all  them  that  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
love  one  another,  when  I  am  deceased.  Though  tlien  I  shall 
rest  from  my  labours,  and  be  in  paradise,  as  through  grace  I 
comfortably  believe,  yet  it  is  not  there,  but  here,  I  must  do  you 
good.  Wherefore,  I  not  knowing  the  shortness  of  my  life,  nor 
the  hinderance  that  hereafter  I  may  have  of  serving  my  God 
and  you,  I  have  taken  this  opportunity  to  present  these  few 
lines  unto  you  for  your  edification." 


176  JOHN  BUNYAK.  [chap.  viii. 

Between  1663,  the  date  of  this  publication,  and  the  end  of 
1665  there  appeared  from  Bunjan's  pen  "Serious  Meditations 
on  the  Four  Last  Things  "  and  "  Ebal  and  Gerizim,"*  two 
works  in  poetic  form  which  call  for  no  special  remark ;  the 
"  Holy  City  ;"  "  The  Resurrection  of  the  Dead  ;  "  and  "Prison 
Meditations." 

The  "  Holy  City,"t  which  appeared  in  the  fifth  year  of  his 
imprisonment,  had,  as  we  have  seen,  its  origin  in  a  prison 
sermon.  It  is  prefaced  with  a  characteristic  epistle  to  four  sorts 
of  readers,  in  which  he  anticipates  that  the  learned  reader  will 
blame  him  because  neither  in  line  or  margent  has  he  a  cloud  of 
sentences  from  learned  fathers.  Learned  sentences  and  words 
he  gives  not,  because  he  has  them  not,  nor' has  he  read  them. 
Had  it  not  been  for  the  Bible  he  had  not  only  not  done  it  thus, 
but  not  at  all.  The  book  itself  is  an  exposition  of  the  vision 
of  the  New  Jerusalem  given  in  the  concluding  chapters  of  the 
Book  of  Revelation.  Treading  on  the  perilous  ground  of 
apocalyptic  interpretation  his  spiritual  insight  and  strong 
common-sense  guide  Bunyan  aright.  To  him  the  New  Jeru- 
salem is  not  the  outward  home  of  the  Church  of  God  in  the 
life  beyond.  It  is  the  symbol  of  the  Church  itself.  The  great 
community  of  redeemed  men  is  set  forth  under  the  double 
similitude  of  the  Bride  the  Lamb's  wife,  and  of  the  City  of  Life, 
the  figure  of  the  Bride  bringing  into  prominence  the  tender 
relations  existing  between  Christ  and  His  own,  and  that  of  the 
City,  the  vastness,  the  glory,  the  manysidedness  of  the  Church 
of  the  redeemed.  Seeing  the  two  symbols  to  be  thus  com- 
plemental,  he  steers  clear  of  the  vagaries  into  which  too  many 
have  fallen.  And  musing  on  the  vision  he  looks  longingly  for 
the  hour  of  manifested  glory.     It  is  not  yet.     The  saints  are 

*  The  Earliest  Edition  of  these  -works  in  existence  is  the  Fourth  ;  the  Title- 
page  runs  thus :  One  thing  is  Needful :  or  Serious  Meditations  upon  the  Four  Last 
Things  ;  unto  which  is  added  Ehal  and  Gerizim :  or  the  Blessing  and  the  Curse, 
■with  Prison  3Ieditations.  By  John  Bunyan.  London :  Printed  for  and  are  to 
be  sold  by  the  Booksellers  of  London  and  Westminster  [1700  ?]. 

Myfyrdodau  difrifol  ar  y  pedwar  peth  diweddaf :  sef,  Angeu,  Barn,  Nof  ac 
Uffem,  Caerfyrddin,  1767. 

t  The  Holy  City ;  or  the  New  Jerusalem.  "Wherein  its  goodly  light,  walls, 
gates,  angels  and  the  manner  of  their  standing  are  expounded.  London  : 
Printed  in  the  year  1665. 


IGUo.]         TIVELVE  YEARS  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL.  177 

yet  but  as  an  army  routed,  and  are  apt,  sometimes  through  fear, 
and  sometimes  through  forgetfulness,  to  mistake  the  word  oi' 
their  Captain- General,  the  Son  of  God,  and  are  also  too  prone 
to  shoot  and  kill  even  their  very  right-hand  man.  But  a  better 
day  is  coming.  '*  Never  was  fair  weather  after  foul,  nor  warm 
weather  after  cold,  nor  sweet  and  beautiful  spring  after  a 
heavy  and  nipping  and  terrible  winter,  so  comfortable,  sweet, 
desirable,  and  welcome  to  the  poor  birds  and  beasts  of  the 
field  as  this  day  will  be  to  the  Church  of  God.  Then  will  all 
the  spiders  and  dragons  and  owls  and  foul  spirits  of  Antichrist 
be  brought  to  light,  and  all  the  pretty  robins  and  little  birds 
in  the  Lord's  field  most  sweetly  send  forth  their  pleasant  notes, 
and  all  the  flowers  and  herbs  of  His  garden  spring." 

The  vision  of  the  City  of  God  was  one  specially  suited  to  his 
peculiar  genius,  and  full  of  suggestiveness.  The  city,  he  notes, 
has  twelve  gates,  three  to  each  point  of  the  compass,  to  show 
that  God  hath  a  people  in  every  corner  of  the  world,  and  that 
from  what  quarter  or  part  of  the  world  soever  men  come  for 
life,  for  those  men  there  are  the  gates  of  life  even  right  before 
their  doors.  On  the  foundations  of  the  city  are  written  the 
names  of  the  twelve  Apostles  of  the  Lamb,  because  it  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  Apostles  that  holds  up  the  walls  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  the  doctrine  upon  which  both  Christ  and  grace  and 
all  hajjpiness  standeth  firm  and  sure  for  ever.  The  right 
preacher  is  the  man  that  can  preach  the  doctrine  of  the  twelve. 
In  the  end  it  shall  not  be  as  it  is  now,  a  Popish  doctrine,  a 
C^uaker's  doctrine,  a  Prelatical  doctrine,  and  the  Presbyter, 
Independent,  and  Anabaptist,  thus  distinguished,  and  thus  con- 
founded and  destroying.  Then  the  city  is  of  pure  gold,  as 
showing  how  invincible  and  uncontj^uerablc  is  the  spirit  of  the 
people  of  God.  For  gold  is  a  metal  invincible  even  by  fire; 
the  fire  may  burn  it,  and  molt  and  consume  its  dross,  but  the 
gold  remains  and  holds  its  ground  ;  yea,  it  gets  ground  even 
of  the  furnace  and  t^re  itself;  for  the  more  it  is  burned  and 
melted,  tho  njore  it  recovers  its  colour  and  whakes  oil"  its  dross 
and  dishonour.  Just  thus  it  is  with  the  people  of  (unl,  and 
hath  been  ho  from  tho  beginning ;  tho  moro  they  oppressed 
them  tho  moro  they  grew. 

The  gates  of  the  city  are  each  one  several  pearl,  one  entire 

N 


178  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  viii. 

pearl,  as  showing  tliat  as  none  can  enter  in  but  by  Christ,  so 
none  can  enter  in  but  by  a  whole  Christ.  Christ  must  be 
helpful  to  thee  every  way,  or  He  will  be  helpful  to  thee  no 
way ;  thou  must  enter  in  by  every  whit  of  Christ,  or  by  never 
a  whit  of  Him.  There  is  but  one  street  in  this  city,  for  at  last 
the  saints  shall  walk  in  one  way,  and  in  one  light.  It  is  Anti- 
christ that  hath  brought  in  all  these  crossings,  bj^e-lanes,  and 
odd  nooks  that  to  this  day  many  an  honest  heart  doth  greatly 
lose  itself  in.  Men  must  have  pure  hearts  for  that  golden 
street,  which  is  as  it  were  transparent  glass.  It  is  not  every 
clown  with  his  clumping  dirty  shoes  that  is  admitted  into  the 
King's  privy  chambers  and  private  palaces ;  neither  doth  or 
will  God  at  the  day  of  the  New  Jerusalem  suffer  any  to  trace 
about  this  golden  street  but  such  as  have  golden  feet,  and  that 
are  beautified  with  golden  shoes.  The  men  who  shall  walk  that 
street  must  be  golden  men  with  golden  hearts,  with  graces 
that  are  much  more  precious  than  of  gold  that  perishe-th. 

"  Thus,"  says  Bunyan,  "  have  I  showed  you  my  present 
light  into  this  portion  of  Holy  Scripture.  If  any  can  give 
me  further,  I  hope  I  shall  not  refuse  it ;  but  as  yet,  methinks, 
this  is  the  genuine  sense  and  the  very  track  of  John  him- 
self." 

This  book,  the  "  Holy  City,"  was  first  issued  without  pub- 
lisher's name  in  1665,  and  again  in  1669  with  the  name  of 
Francis  Smith  as  publisher.  With  the  exception  of  the  title- 
page,  both  editions  are  of  the  same  impression,  even  to  the 
"  Errata  and  Corrections,"  and  in  both  issues  there  is  the  fol- 
lowing note : — "  Reader,  By  reason  of  the  Author's  distance 
from  the  Press  some  Faults  have  escaped  (notwithstanding  the 
Printer's  care),  which  thou  art  desired  to  correct  thus."  The 
corrections  which  follow  are  the  same  in  both  editions. 

The  book  entitled  "  The  Resurrection  of  the  Dead  "*  appeared 
the  same  year  as  the  first  issue  of  the  "  Holy  City,"  1665.  In 
that  year,  also,  appeared  a  poetical  production  entitled  "  Prison 
Meditations  :  Dedicated  to  the  Heart  of  Suffering  Saints  and 

•  The  Resurrection  of  the  Dead,  and  Eternal  Judgment.  By  John  Bunyan,  a 
Servant  of  the  Lord's  Christ.  London:  Printed  for  Francis  Smith  [166!;]. 
Tho  only  known  copy  of  the  First  Edition  was  destroyed  i)y  fire  with  the  leat 
of  Mr.  Offor's  collection  in  1865. 


lGGo-6.]      TITELVE  YEARS  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL.  179 

Reigniug  Sinners:  By  John  Biinyan,  in  Prison,  16G-5."  *  It 
would  appear  that  some  friend  had  written  to  him  in  gaol, 
sending  him  words  of  cheer  and  encouraging  hira  to  keep  his 
head  above  the  flood.  This  poetical  eflusion  was  Bunyaa's 
reply  to  his  friend.  He  takes  it  kindly  of  him,  he  says,  thus 
to  write  to  him,  and  assures  him  that  his  heart  is  still  undaunted, 
for  his  feet  upon  Mount  Sion  stand.  He  is  in  prison,  it  is  true, 
but  then  his  mind  is  free. 

"  For  though  men  keep  my  outward  man 
Within  their  holts  and  bars, 
Tet,  hy  the  faith  of  Christ,  I  can 
Mount  higher  than  the  stars. 

Here  dwells  good  conscience,  also  peace. 

Here  be  my  garments  white  ; 
H'TC,  though  in  bonds,  I  have  release 

From  guilt,  which  else  would  bite. 

The  Truth  and  I,  wore  both  here  cast 

Together,  and  we  do 
Lie  arm  in  arm,  and  so  hold  fast 

Each  other  :  this  is  true." 

After  sending  forth  this  poetical  epistle  to  his  friend,  Bunyan 
seems  next  to  have  set  about  the  composition  of  a  book,  which, 
under  the  title  of  "  Grace  Abounding  to  the  Chief  of  Sinners," 
gives,  as  he  only  could  give  it,  the  story  of  his  life,  t  This 
proved  to  be  one  of  his  most  memorable  compositions,  and 
associates  itself  in  one's  mind  with  Augustine's  confessions  and 
the  heart-utterances  of  Luther.  In  a  preface,  which  is  not  the 
least  powerful  part  of  it,  he  dedicates  the  book  to  those  whom 
God  hath  counted  him  worthy  to  beget  to  faith  by  his  ministry 
in  the  Word.  He  is,  he  says,  taken  from  them  in  presence,  but 
his  soul  having  fatherly  care  and  desire  after  their  welfare,  now 

•  PriHoii  .}fedil<ilionii :  Dedicated  to  tlie  Heart  of  SufTiTing  Saints  and  Reigning 
Sinnf-m.  IJy  John  IJunyan,  in  I'li-un,  IdC,',.  dni  hnr-fijfyrdiHlan.  J.  B. 
Alieryotwith,  1809,     12",' 

t  Grace  AboHiiding  to  Ihe  Chief  of  .Stiitirii, :  nr  a  brief  and  faithful  Rr>Iation  of 
the  exc4;<.dirig  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  to  hiii  poor  Horvant,  John  liiinyan. 
lyiiidon  :  I'rint^d  by  George  Larkin,  1C06,  De  Genade  Uytgehrryt  tot  de  Grooitt 
der  Soiidareit.  AinHt<-rdiim  :  Iloctkholt,  I0H9,  12*.  Ilelaethrwyddo  Uai,  xrpennafo 
htthadurxaid.  Dolgelh.-u,  ISO.'J.  8".  Gruee  dt  JJieu  rrpandut  abondammrnt . 
Tmduitti  par  J.  F.  Nardin,  Genl-ve,  1824.  12",  Gmt  am  pailtcoM  do  c/icann- 
fead/itia  ttam  peacitrh.  Gael.  Kdinhurgh,  1847.  12".  Die  iiber»rliwiinglieli$ 
Gnadt  an  dem  yrOmlm  der  Siinder.  Hamburg:  1804.  Ottrttettei  liamU  mod  dm 
Htortte  blandt  Syndere.     Uertjeo  :    1874. 

.N   2 


180  JOBN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vin. 

once  again,  as  before,  from  the  top  of  Shenir  and  Hermon,  so 
now  from  the  lion's  dens  and  from  the  mountains  of  the  leopards 
he  looks  after  them  all,  greatly  longing  to  see  their  safe  arrival 
into  the  desired  haven.  He  thanks  God  upon  every  remembrance 
of  them,  and  even  now,  while  he  sticks  between  the  teeth  of  the 
lions  in  the  wilderness,  he  rejoices  over  the  grace  God  has 
bestowed  upon  them.  Their  aspirations  of  soul,  their  tender- 
ness of  heart,  their  trembling  at  sin,  their  sober  and  holy  de- 
portment before  both  God  and  men  is  great  refreshment  to  him, 
for  they  are  his  glory  and  joy.  He  sends  them  here  enclosed 
a  drop  of  that  honey  he  has  taken  out  of  the  carcase  of  the  lion. 
He  has  eaten  thereof  himself,  and  been  much  refreshed  thereby. 
In  this  discourse  they  may  see  much  of  the  grace  of  God 
towards  him.  It  was  much  indeed,  for  it  was  above  his  sins 
and  above  Satan's  temptations  too.  His  fears  and  doubts  and 
sad  months  are  now  as  the  head  of  Goliah  in  his  hand.  The 
remembrance  of  his  great  sins,  of  his  great  temptations,  and  of 
his  great  fears  of  perishing  for  ever  bring  afresh  to  his  mind 
the  remembrance  of  his  great  help,  of  his  great  support  from 
heaven,  of  the  great  grace  that  God  extended  to  such  a  wretch 
as  he.  He  would  have  them  also  search  for  the  hid  treasure  of 
their  first  and  second  experience  of  the  grace  of  God — to  re- 
member the  word  that  first  laid  hold  of  them,  their  terrors  of 
conscience,  and  fears  of  death  and  hell,  their  tears  and  prayers 
to  God,  and  how  they  sighed  under  every  hedge  for  mercy. 
Had  they  never  a  Hill  Mizar  to  remember  ?  Had  they  for- 
gotten the  close,  the  milk-house,  the  stable,  the  barn,  and  the 
like,  where  God  did  visit  their  souls  ?  In  writing  this  book  he 
could  have  stepped  into  a  style  much  higher  than  that  in  which 
he  has  discoursed,  but  he  dare  not.  God  did  not  play  in  con- 
vincing him,  nor  the  devil  in  tempting  him,  neither  did  he 
himself  play  when  he  sank  as  into  a  bottomless  pit,  and  the 
pangs  of  hell  caught  hold  of  him  ;  whereupon  he  may  not  in 
telling  the  story  but  be  plain  and  simple,  and  lay  down  the 
thing  as  it  was.  He  that  likes  it  may  receive  it,  he  that  does 
not,  let  him  produce  a  better. 

This  book,  which  in  parts  is  weird  and  terrible  as  his  own 
picture  of  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  is  yet  in  its 
alternations  a  faithful  transcript  of  the  writer's  soul,  and  must 


IGGG]  TWELVE  YEARS  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL.  181 

be  read  in  order  to  a  ri!>lit  understandini;  of  the  man  as  he  wa«, 
both  in  strength  and  weakness.  It  appeared  in  1GG6,  the  year 
of  his  lirst  but  short  release,  and  was  published  in  London  by 
George  Larkin.  Till  1883  no  copy  of  the  first  edition  was 
known  to  be  in  existence,  but  in  July  of  that  year  one  was 
purchased  at  a  sale  for  the  British  Museum.  It  is  beautifully 
printed  in  duodecimo  form,  and  is  shorter  than  the  subsequent 
editions  by  some  fifty  or  sixty  paragraphs.  Some  of  the  most 
interesting  personal  reminiscences  and  effective  touches  appear 
to  have  been  added  after  the  first  publication.  In  this  first 
edition  there  is  no  mention  of  his  falling  into  a  creek  of  the 
sea  or  into  Bedford  river,  or  of  his  plucking  out  the  tongue  of 
an  adder,  when  he  was  a  boy,  or  of  his  going  to  be  a  soldier  after- 
wards. The  whole  of  the  characteristic  account  of  his  giving 
up  bell-ringing  in  Elstow  steeple,  and  of  his  dancing  with  the 
Elstow  lasses  was  a  later  addition  ;  so,  too,  was  the  eminently 
interesting  passage  about  his  meeting  with  Martin  Luther's 
*•  Commentary  on  the  Galatians,"  and  the  long  and  earnest 
vindication  of  his  character  against  the  charges  of  inchastity, 
found  in  sections  304-817  of  the  edition  of  K588  is  entirely 
wanting  in  the  edition  of  16G6.  The  pathetic  references  to  his 
blind  child  also  were  intensified,  in  the  later  edition,  and  all  the 
way  through,  little  touches  were  added  here  and  there  which 
heighten  the  effect,  and  give  finish  to  the  picture.  "Whether 
they  were  all  added  in  the  second  edition,  we  do  not  happen  to 
know,  since  there  are  no  remaining  copies  known  of  any  edition 
between  the  first,  of  lOGG,  and  the  sixth,  of  1G88.  In  the  first 
edition  he  says,  "  I  was  had  home  to  prison  again,  where  I  have 
now  lain  above  five  years  and  a  quarter,  waiting  to  see  what 
God  will  suffer  tliese  men  to  do  with  me."  In  the  sixth  edition 
he  says  he  has  lain  now  complete  twelve  years,  and  as  he  still 
retains  the  words  about  waiting  to  see  what  yet  may  come,  it 
seems  probable  that  no  additions  were  made  to  the  "Grace 
Abounding"  after  his  release  from  jjrison,  and  that  tlu>  edition 
of  1G88  is  simply  a  reprint  of  one  issued  about  1G72,  of  wliich 
no  copy  seems  to  bo  known. 

It  lias  benn  noticed  that  \\\\'\\v.  all  Banyan's  previous  prison 
books  were  published  by  Francis  Sinitli,  the  "Grace  Abound- 
ing "    was    issued    by    George    Larkin.      The    change    may 


182  JOHN  BUN  YAK  [chap.  vin. 

have  been  required  because  Smith  himself  was  at  that  time  in 
the  furnace  as  well  as  Bunyan,  for  publisher  and  author  were 
indeed  companions  in  tribulation.  Francis  Smith's  place  of 
business  was  at  the  Elephant  and  Castle,  near  Temple  Bar,  and 
as  "  Anabaptist,  alias  Elephant  Smith,"  he  was  known  to  his 
contemporaries  as  "  a  man  of  great  sincerity  and  happy  con- 
tentment in  all  circumstances  of  life."  But  according  to  his 
own  account  he  went  through  experiences  which  must  have 
strained  his  happy  contentment  to  its  utmost  pitch  of  tension. 
As  early  as  1659,  when  the  Restoration  tide  was  beginning  to 
turn,  he  was  looked  upon  as  "  a  disaflfected  Person  and  a  Pha- 
natick,"  and  as  such  his  house  was  frequently  searched  for  arms, 
and  all  his  windows  broken.  In  1660,  for  publishing  a  little 
book  entitled  "The  Lord's  Loud  Call  to  England,"  and  similar 
productions,  he  was  three  times  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the 
King's  Messengers  at  a  noble  a  day,  the  whole  costing  him 
£50.  At  the  time  of  Venner's  insurrection  he  was  ill  in  bed, 
but  that  did  not  prevent  his  house  being  searched  ten  times,  his 
person  being  assaulted  to  the  peril  of  his  life,  or  his  property 
plundered.  The  following  August  he  and  piles  of  books  from 
his  shop  were  seized  by  warrant,  he  being  carried  to  the  Gate- 
house Prison,  for  "  having  a  hand  in  printing  and  compileing 
dangerous  Books,"  which  surely  were  not  so  very  dangerous, 
seeing  that  those  who  carried  them  off  straightway  sold  the 
sheets  to  the  trade  again,  and  put  the  money  into  their  own 
pockets.  It  was  during  this  imprisonment  that  he  says,  "  I 
was  locked  up  in  a  room  where  I  had  neither  chair  nor  stool  to 
rest  upon,  and  yet  ten  shillings  per  week  must  be  the  price,  and 
before  I  had  been  there  three  nights  £7  15s.  was  demanded  for 
present  fees.  That  is  to  say,  £5  to  excuse  me  for  wearing  irons, 
ten  shillings  for  my  entrance  week  lodging,  five  shillings  for 
sheets,  five  shillings  for  garnish  money,  and  the  rest  for  Turn- 
key's fees." 

Pecounting  some  of  his  other  troubles  he  mentions  a  fact  of 
some  interest  to  us  when  he  says,  "  Immediately  before  that 
dreadful  Fire  that  the  Papists  brought  upon  London  in  1666 
one  Mr.  Lillycrop,  a  Printer,  and  another,  both  servants  to 
Mr.  L'Estrange,  as  his  assistance  in  surveying  the  Press,  came 
to  my  shop  and  warehouse  near  Temple  Bar,  with  their  general 


IGGC]  TWELVE  YEARS  IN  BEBFORB  GAOL.  183 

warrant  to  seize  unlicensed  Books,  and  took  of  Mi.  Allen's,  J/r. 
Bun)nja)i's,  and  others,  barely  as  unlicensed,  tboigb  the  pre- 
judice tbe  Licensers  were  pleased  to  take  against  the  Authors, 
constrained  ray  printing  them  without  License,  being  Books 
neither  against  Church  nor  State  :  nevertheless  they  took  as 
many  as  two  Porters  could  stand  under,  and  carried  them  to 
Mr.  L'Estrange's  Lodging,  then  at  the  King's  AVardrobe,  some 
of  which,  with  much  difficulty  and  charge,  was  obtained  again  : 
the  rest  it's  supposed  the  Fire  took." 

Raids  like  this  repeated  would  go  far  to  account  for  the 
scarcity  of  Bunyan's  earlier  works,  and  may  partly  explain  also 
the  change  of  publisher.  Francis  Smith  was  clearly  a  marked 
man,  and  his  warehouse  not  safe.  We  can  scarcely  wonder. 
Many  of  the  other  authors  for  whom  he  published  were,  like 
Bunyan,  of  a  class  unacceptable  to  Roger  L'Estrange,  the 
Censor  of  the  Press,  and  those  for  whom  he  acted.  Smith  had 
a  way,  too,  of  getting  a  book  licensed  if  he  could,  but  if  he 
could  not,  then,  with  sweet  simplicity,  he  laid  the  blame  of  its 
irregular  appearance  upon  the  authorities  who,  by  their  refusal, 
constrained  him,  as  he  says,  to  print  the  book  without  licence. 
Still  further,  not  merely  as  a  publisher,  but  as  a  citizen,  he  was 
a  man  to  be  carefully  watched,  for  he  was  painfully  plain- 
spoken  on  subjects  on  which  city  gentlemen  were  naturally  sen- 
sitive. He  went  so  far  as  to  lay  his  profane  hand  on  the  sacred 
institution  of  the  Sheriff's  Feast.  In  a  pamphlet  written  by 
himself  he  pointed  out  that  "  the  fifth  part  of  the  charge  of  the 
Shrievalty  is  for  wine,  the  growth  of  another  country,  and  that 
the  Cheque  and  Spittle  Feasts  have  become  scandalous,  the 
latter,  after  the  pretended  service  of  God  in  hearing  a  sonnon, 
costing  above  iJ^jOO  to  each  Sheriff."  lie  points  out  also  that 
while  thirty  years  ago  a  lord  or  gentleman  used  to  spend  onlv 
£100  in  wine  when  living  at  the  rate  of  £10,000  or  £12,000  a 
year,  now  out  of  every  £''{,000  spent  in  the  city  above  £500 
went  in  wine.* 

About  the  time  of  the  ai)pcarance  of  the  "  Grace  Abounding  " 
Bunyan  had  a  few  weeks'  brief  release  from  his  iniprisonnicnt. 
The  friend  who  wnjte  the  continuation  of  this  book  in  101) J, 
tells  us  that  after  hix  years'  conlinement,  "  by  the  intercession 

•  Account  of  IiijiDiiiiix  Piuceedint/i  a</aiii»l  FiMiicu  Sii.it/t,  1G80.     Folio,  20  i>j». 


184  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  viii. 

of  some  in  trust  and  power,  that  took  pity  upon  his  suffering, 
lie  obtained  his  freedom."     Other  events  also  at  that  time  con- 
spired to   shake  the  resolution  of  the  hard-handed  men  who 
were  then  in  power.     The  Plague  had  desolated  London  in  a 
way  that  was  simply  appalling,  and   in  some  instances  had 
spread  down  into  the  country.     It  was  even  raging  round  Bed- 
ford gaol.     Out  of  the  small  population  then  in  the  town  no 
fewer  than  forty  persons,  as  St.  Paul's  register  informs  us,  died 
of  the  Plague,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  and  were  buried  in 
a  field,  ever  after  known  as  Pesthouse  Close.      Then  after  the 
Plague  came  the  great  Fire  of  London,  carrying  terror  through 
the  country.     And,  what  was  even  more  to  the  purpose.  Lord 
Clarendon,  able  but  pitiless,  the  arch  instigator  of  all  repressive 
measures  against  Nonconformists,  was  beginning  to  totter,  in 
his  high  place,  towards  that  ruinous  fall  which  was  now  so  near. 
So  there  came  a  breathing  space,  of  which  Bunyan  received  the 
advantage,  but  not  for  long.  Charles  Doe  tells  us  that  "a  little 
after  his  release  they  took  him  again  at  a  meeting,  and  put  him 
in  the  same  gaol,  where  he  lay  six  years  more."      Where  this 
arrest  took  place,  or  for  what  oflfence,  we  are  not  told ;  but  as 
he  was  again  committed  to  the  county  gaol  it  must  have  been 
within  the  county  jurisdiction.      Speaking  of  the  time  when 
he  was  cast  into  prison  Bunyan  says,  "  The  subject   I  should 
have  preached  upon  even  then  when  the  constable  came  was, 
'  Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God  ?  '  "      This  might  apply 
to  his  first  arrest  at  Samsell ;  but  the  writer  of  the  continuation, 
already  referred  to,  tells  us  that  this  was  his  text  on  the  occa- 
sion of   his  second  arrest.      In  the   biography  of  1692   it  is 
said  that  when  the  constable  came  to  take  him,  Bunyan,  with 
the  open  Bible  in  his  hand,  fixed  his  eyes  upon  the  man,  who 
turned  pale,  let  go  his  hold,  and  stood  back,  Bunyan  exclaim- 
ing, "  See  how  this  man  trembles  at  the  "Word  of  God  !  "  *  The 
stor}^  may  be  true,  but  it  is  in  a  vein  a  little  too  melodramatic 
to    be    characteristic,  and  is  without   sufficient   contemporary 
authority  to  rest  upon. 

But  whatever  the  circumstances  of  his  arrest,  in  166G,  and 
for  six  years  more  Bunyan  was  back  in  his  old  quarters  in 
Bedford  gaol.     It  is  curious  to  notice  that  of  this  second  period 
*  Is  not  a  similar  story  told  of  George  Fox  ? 


16Gr,-72.]     TirELVE  YEARS  IX  BEDFORD  GAOL.  185 

of  six  years'  imprisonment  we  know  very  much  less  than  we 
know  of  the  first.  In  the  first  imprisonment  he  wrote  and 
published  no  fewer  than  nine  of  his  books,  during  the  second 
he  seems  to  have  produced  only  two  books,  his  "  Confession 
of  Faith,"  and  the  work  entitled  "  A  Defence  of  the  Doctrine 
of  Justification  by  Faith,"  the  latter  being  written  off  r;  pidly 
in  the  space  of  six  weeks  shortly  before  his  release  in  1()72. 
It  is  tolerably  certain  that  his  masterpiece,  the  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress,"  though  written  in  prison  as  he  himself  tells  us,  was 
not  written  during  his  longer  term  of  twelve  years,  but  during 
that  shorter  termof  six  months' imprisonment,  which  fell  in  1675. 
The  reason  for  this  opinion  may  be  more  conveniently  given 
when  we  come  to  speak  of  the  book  itself  and  of  that  later 
time.  After  his  frequent  utterances  from  1G60  to  1666  his 
almost  entire  silence  as  an  author  from  1666  to  1672  is  cer- 
tainly remarkable.  Was  it  because  he  was  not  able  to  get  any 
of  his  writings  licensed  and  Francis  Smith  was  now  too  care- 
fully watched  to  be  able  to  publish  them  unlicensed  ?  Was  it 
that  the  claims  of  his  family's  maintenance  made  greater  demands 
upon  his  time  now  that  the  long  continuance  of  persecution 
had  made  friends  fewer  ?  Or  was  it  that  he  was  becoming 
more  broken-spirited  and  for  a  time  at  least  had  lost  something 
of  his  old  elasticity  of  mind  ? 

Be  the  reason  what  it  may,  our  knowledge  of  those  six 
years  is  a  comparative  blank.  Two  facts  and  two  only 
stand  out  to  view.  llis  wife  and  children  were  at  this 
time  living  in  the  parish  of  St.  Cuthbert,  and  there  is  a 
fine  stroke  of  irony  in  the  fact  that  while  Bunyan  was  still  a 
prisoner,  a  collection  was  made  all  through  that  parish  in  the 
month  of  October,  1670,  "for  the  poor  inslavcd  English  Chris- 
tians cap[tured]  in  Algiers ;  by  virtue  of  a  brief  from  the 
King's  Most  Excellent  Majesty  and  his  ^lost  Honourable  Privy 
Councill  read  and  urged  on  tiie  Lord's  day,  by  exhortation  and 
porswasion  in  the  l^ari.sh  Church  thereof."  Though  the  brief 
was  road  and  urged  in  church,  the  colltction  which  amounted 
to  seven  shillings  appears  to  have  been  made  from  house  to 
house,  for  the  contributors'  names  are  all  given,  fifteen  in 
number.  Among  those  the  name  of  "  John  JJunnian  "  appears  as 
that  of  a  subscriber  of  sixpence  to  the  fund,  which,  as  ho  was  a 


186  JOHN  BT7NYAN.  [chap.  viii. 

prisoner  himself,  was  probably  contributed  by  bis  family  on  bis 
behalf* 

In  the  early  part  of  1671,  Edward  Fowler,  rector  of 
Northill,  in  Bedfordshire,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Gloucester, 
published  a  book  entitled,  "  The  Design  of  Christianity,"  a  copy 
of  which  found  its  way  to  Bunyan  in  Bedford  gaol  the  follow- 
ing February.  This  book  roused  in  him  once  more  the  spirit 
of  controversy,  and  within  six  weeks  he  sent  forth  a  lengthy 
reply  to  the  work,  dated  "  From  Prison,  the  27th  of  the  12th 
month,  1671,"  or  according  to  new  style  March  27th,  1672.t 
The  writer  though  living  only  a  few  miles  from  Bedford  is 
personally  a  stranger  to  him.  "  I  know  you  not  by  face, 
nor  your  personal  practice."  He  cannot  tell,  therefore,  whether 
he  is  one  of  the  many  ignorant  Sir  Johns  in  the  pulpits  of  the 
land  ;  all  he  knows  of  him  is  that  being  first  one  of  the  ejected 
of  1662,  and  then  one  who  afterwards  conformed,  he  had  shown 
an  unstable  weathercock  spirit  which  could  not  but  stumble 
the  weak  and  give  advantage  to  the  adversary.  It  is  his  book, 
however,  not  himself,  against  which  he  protests,  and  this 
because  it  is  alien  to  the  Evangelic  spirit  of  the  Articles  of  tbe 
Church  of  England  and  therefore  to  the  gospel  itself.  The 
writer  seems  to  him  to  speak  more  of  reformation  than  regene- 
ration, more  of  the  restoration  of  the  merely  natural  qualities 
than  of  the  impartation  of  the  new  nature  of  sonship  in 
Christ.  This  is  not  enough  ;  it  is  not  enough  for  the  old  nature 
to  go  forth  in  holiday  clothes,  there  must  be  a  new  creation 
in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  In  Bunyan's  judgment 
Fowler  makes  too  light  of  Christ's  great  sacrifice  in  its  character 
as  an  expiation  for  human  guilt,  making  it  to  appear  that 
Christ  merely  holds  the  point  of  the  sword  of  justice,  not  that 
he  received  it  into  his  own  soul,  that  he  suspended  the  curse 
from  us,  not  that  he  He  Himself  was  made  a  curse  for  us,  and 
in  this  way  he  steppeth  over  Christ's  sacrifice  as  a  spider 
straddlcth  over  a  wasp.  A  pale  shadowy  gospel  like  this  the 
writer,  he  says,  proves  not  from  Scripture  but  from  the  Cam- 

•  St.  Cuthhcr€s  Parish  Register. 

t  A  Defence  of  the  Doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith  in  Jesus  Christ :  showing, 
true  gospel  Ilolinesa  flows  from  thence.  London  :  Printed  for  Francis  Smith. 
1672. 


1672.]  TWELVE  TEARS  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL.  187 

bridge  thinker  John  Smith,  while  John  Smith  goes  in  turn  to 
Phito,  and  so  they  wrap  the  business  up.  Further,  hiying 
aside  all  fear  of  man  and,  as  he  says,  "  not  regarding  what  you 
may  procure  to  be  inflicted  upon  me  for  this  my  plain  dealing 
with  you,"  he  protests  against  Fowler's  turning  liberty  to  loose- 
ness by  saying  that  in  matters  of  worship  we  have  leave  to  do 
whatsoever  is  commended  by  custom,  or  commanded  by  superiors, 
or  made  convenient  by  circumstances.  For  in  this  way  you 
may  hop  from  Presbyterianism  to  the  prclatical  mode,  and  if 
time  and  chance  should  serve  you,  backwards  and  Ibr wards 
again  and  make  use  of  several  consciences.  How  then  if  God 
should  cast  you  into  Turkey,  where  ^lahomet  reigns  as  Lord  ? 
It  is  but  reckoning  that  it  is  the  religion  and  custom  of  the 
country  and  that  it  is  authorised  by  the  power  that  is  there, 
and  then,  for  peace'  sake  and  to  sleep  in  a  whole  skin,  you  may 
comply  and  do  as  your  superior  commands.  So  he  leaves 
Fowler  for  the  present,  destined  to  hear  from  him  before  the 
year  was  out. 

The  time  forBunyan's  release  was  now  nearer  than  he  knew. 
Before  this  book  was  well  out  of  the  printer's  hands  he  was 
out  of  the  gaoler's.  Twelve  days  before  he  dated  the  preface 
from  prison  the  King  dated  the  Declaration  of  Religious 
Indulgence  from  AVhitehall.  This  declaration  suspended,  not 
by  due  course  of  law  but  by  royal  prerogative,  the  execution  of 
all  and  all  manner  of  penal  laws  in  matters  ecclesiastical 
against  whatsoever  sort  of  Nonconformists  or  Becusants.  On 
the  8th  of  May  following,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  King 
in  Council  from  John  Fenn,  John  Bunyau,  John  Dunn, 
Thomas  Ilaynes,  Simon  Ilaynes,  and  George  Farr,  jjrisoners 
in  the  gaol  of  Bedford,  for  being  at  Conventicles  and  Noncon- 
formity. The  petition  was  ordered  to  bo  referred  to  the 
Sheriff  of  the  County  who  was  forthwith  to  certify  the  Privy 
Council  "  whether  the  said  parties  are  detained  in  prison  for 
the  offences  therein  mentioned  or  for  wliat  other  crimes." 
Thomas  Bnnnsall  of  Blunham  was  slier i(f  that  year  and  seems 
to  have  acted  witli  promptitude  in  the  matter,  for  his  certilieato 
that  the  prisoners  in  question  were  simply  "Convicted  upon 
several  statutes  for  not  conforming  to  tlio  rights  and  cere- 
monyes  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  ior  being  at  unlawful 


188  JOim  BUNYAK  [chap.  vin. 

meetings,"  was  dated  the  11th  of  May,  or  only  three  days  after 
the  Order  in  Council.  On  the  17th,  therefore,  at  the  next 
meeting  at  Whitehall,  it  was  "  Ordered  by  his  Ma^^®  in 
Council,  That  the  said  petition  of  the  Bedford  prisoners  and 
certificate  of  the  Sheriff",  be  (and  are  herewith)  sent  to  his 
Ma*^®'®  Attorney  Generall,  who  is  authorised  and  required  to  insert 
them  into  the  Generall  Pardon  to  be  passed  for  the  Quakers." 
This  general  pardon  under  the  great  seal  was  witnessed  at  West- 
minster on  the  13th  of  September,  1672,  and  beginning  with 
the  gaol  of  Newgate  within  the  City  of  London,  specifies  the 
names  of  the  prisoners  to  be  released  from  various  gaols  in  the 
kingdom,  and  amongst  them  these  :  "  John  Fenn,  John  Bun- 
nion,  John  Dunn,  Thomas  Haynes,  George  Farr,  James  Rogers, 
John  Rush,  Tabitha  Rush,  and  John  Curfe,  Prisoners  in  our 
Common  Gaol  for  our  County  of  Bedford."  In  the  previous 
lists  James  Rogers  is  described  as  being  in  the  gaol  at  Cam- 
bridge. This  pardon  is  extended,  as  required  by  the  forms  of 
laws,  so  that  every  name  is  repeated  eleven  times,  Bunyan's 
being  spelt  four  different  ways,  Bunyan  five  times,  Bannyan 
three  times,  Bunnion  twice  and  Bimnyon  once.* 

But  though  Bunyan's  pardon  imder  the  great  seal  was  finally 
issued  only  on  the  13th  September,  it  is  not  improbable  that 
his  actual  release  took  place  as  early  as  May  ;  for  on  the  9th 
of  that  month  he  was  duly  licensed  as  a  teacher  under  the 
Declaration  of  Indulgence.  In  the  volume  marked  "  Indul- 
gences, 1672,"  and  under  the  head  "  Congregationall,"  there 
is  the  following  document,  a  copy  of  which  Bunyan  carried 
with  him  as  his  passport : 

Chahles,  &c.     To  all  Mayors,  Bailiffs,  Con- 
Bedford  Licence  for     stables,  and  others,  Our  Officers  and  Ministers, 
John  Bunnyon  to  be  a     q-^^ii   ^^^  Military  whom    it    may  concerne, 
teacher  m  the  House     n       i.-  t-d  £  tai^-  j) 

of     Josias    Roughed,     G^^eetrng.     In  Pursuance  of  our  Declaration  of 

9  May,  72.  the   15th  of   March,    167A^,   Wee    doe  hereby 

permitt  and  licence  John  Bunyon  to  bee  a 
Teacher  of  the  Congregation  allowed  by  Us  in  the  House  of  Josias 
Eoughed,  Bedford,  for  the  use  of  such  as  doe  not  conforme  to  the 
Church  of  England,  who  are  of  the  Perswasion  commonly  called 

*  Offor,  I.  xcviii.  The  Christian  Progress  of  George  Whitehead :  1725,  pp.  3o9— 
36G. 


1072.]  DVELVE  YEARS  IN  BEDFORD  GAOL.  189 

Cuugregatiouall.  With  f lutlier  licence  and  permission  to  him  the 
said  John  Bunyou  to  teach  in  any  other  phice  licensed  by  Us  accord- 
ino-  to  our  said  Declaration.  Given  at  our  Court  at  AVhitehall  the 
yth  day  of  May  in  the  24th  yeare  of  our  Eeigne,  1672, 

By  his  Ma'"^'*  command, 

AliLIXGTON. 

Thus  constancy  bad  conquered  at  last,  and  the  right  to  teach 
was  in  the  end  conceded  by  the  power  which  hud  spent  twelve 
voars  in  asserting  that  it  did  not  exist.     Those  twelve  years  of 
memorable    experience    had   been    borne    with  a  bravery  and 
patience  quite  as  memorable.     Says  his  friend  :  "  It  was  by 
making  him  a  visit  in  prison   that  I  first  saw  him  and  became 
acquainted  with  him  ;  and  I  must  confess,  I  could  not  but  look 
upon  him  to  be  a  man  of  an  excellent   spirit,  zealous  for  his 
Master's  honour  and  chearf  ully  committing  all  his  concernments 
unto  God's  disposal.     lie  bore  that  tedious  imprisonment  in  an 
incomfortable  and  close  prison  and  sometimes  under  cruel  and 
oppressive  gaolers  with  that  Christian  patience  and  presence  of 
mind  as  became  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  such  a  cause  as 
he  was  engaged  in  and  suffered  for."      lie  himself  also,  speak- 
ing of  the  fact  that  he  was    so  long  in  bonds,  quietly  says : 
"  In  which  condition   I  have    continued  with    much    content 
through  grace."     "  1  was  made  to  see  that  if  ever  I  would  sull'er 
rightly  I  must   first  pass  a  sentence  of  death  upon  everything 
whicli  can  properly  be  called  a  thing  of  this  life,  even  to  reckon 
myself,  ray  Wife,  my  Children,  my  Health,  my  Enjoyments,  and 
all,  as  dead  to  me  and  myself  as  dead  to  them.     And  second  to 
live   upon  Ciod    that    is   invisible.     I   see  the  best  way   to  go 
througli  suffering  is  to  trust  in  God  through  Christ  as  touching 
the  world   to  come  ;  and  us  touching  this  world  to  count   the 
grave  my  House,  and  to  make  my  Bed  in  darkness.     That  is  to 
familiarize  these  things  to  me." 

Thus  lie  found  like  many  before  und  since  that  the  way  of 
earthly  renunciation  is  the  way  of  heavenly  peace,  that  by 
giving  up  all,  we  gain  all.  Yet  like  the  rest  of  us  he  found 
this  path  steep  and  arduous.  "  I  found  myself  a  man  and  com- 
pa8.sed  with  infirmities.  The  parting  with  my  Wife  and  poor 
(Jhildren  hath  often  been  to  mo  in  this  place  us  the  pulling  of 
tlie  Flesh  from  my  Bones  ;  und  that  not  only  because  I  am  some- 


190  JOBN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  vni. 

what  too  fond  of  these  great  Mercies,  but  also  because  I  should 
have  often  brought  to  my  mind  the  many  hardships,  miseries 
and  wants  that  my  poor  Familj'-  was  like  to  meet  with  should  I 
be  taken  from  them,  especially  my  }-)oor  hlincl  child,  who  lay 
nearer  my  heart  than  all  I  had  besides.  O  the  thoughts  of 
the  hardship,  I  thought  my  Blind  one  might  go  under  would 
break  my  heart  to  pieces."  "  Yet  recalling  myself,  thought  I, 
/  must  venture  you  all  with  God,  though  it  goeth  to  the  quick  to 
leave  you.  O,  I  saw  in  this  condition  I  was  as  a  man  who  was 
pulling  down  his  house  upon  the  head  of  his  wife  and  children. 
Yet,  thought  I,  I  must  do  it,  I  must  do  it." 

His  earliest  struggles  of  soul  seem  to  have  been  his  severest. 
"  When  but  a  young  prisoner  and  not  acquainted  with  the 
law  this  lay  much  upon  my  spirit.  That  my  Imprisonment 
might  end  at  the  Gallows  for  aught  I  can  tell."  Yet  it  was 
not  hano-ing:  he  feared  so  much  as  that  when  the  time  came  to 
die  he  might  be  left  without  savour  of  the  things  of  God, 
without  any  evidence  upon  his  soul  that  all  was  well.  "  I 
thought  with  myself,  if  I  should  make  a  scrabbling  shift  to 
clamber  up  the  Ladder,  yet  I  should  either  with  quaking  or 
other  symptoms  of  faintings  give  occasion  to  the  enemy  to 
reproach  the  way  of  God  and  his  People,  for  their  timorousness. 
This,  therefore,  lay  with  great  trouble  upon  me,  for  methought 
I  was  ashamed  to  die  with  a  pale  Face  and  tottering  Knees  for 
such  a  cause  as  this."  Then  came  this  gleam  of  hope  and  cheer 
that  he  might  even  upon  the  scaffold  give  the  message  of  life  to 
the  crowd  who  came  to  see  him  die,  "  and  thought  I,  if  it  musi 
be  so,  if  God  will  but  convert  one  soul  by  my  very  last  words, 
I  shall  not  count  my  Life  thrown  away  nor  lost."  And  even 
should  it  be  that  in  the  supreme  hour  of  departing  life  God 
snould  hide  His  face  from  him,  "  'Twas  my  duty  to  stand  to  his 
Word,  whether  he  would  ever  look  upon  me  or  no,  or  save  me  at 
the  last.  Wherefore,  thought  I,  the  point  being  thus,  I  am 
for  going  on  and  venturing  my  eternal  State  with  Christ, 
whether  I  have  comfort  here  or  no.  If  God  doth  not  come  in, 
thought  I,  I  will  leap  off  the  Ladder  even  blindfold  into 
Eternity,  sink  or  swim,  come  heaven,  come  hell.  Lord  Jesus, 
if  thou  wilt,  catch  me,  do ;  if  not,  I  will  venture  for  thy 
Name." 


1072.]  TWELVE  TEARS  m  BEDFORD  GAOL.  UU 

These  days  of  storm  were  followed  by  years  of  calm,  when 
his  soul  was  kept  as  with  the  peace  of  God.  It  was  of  the 
years  that  slowly  came  and  went  in  Bedford  gaol  he  was  speak- 
ing when  he  said :  "  I  never  had  in  all  my  life  so  great  an 
inlet  into  the  Word  of  God  as  now.  The  Scriptures  that  I  saw 
nothing  in  before  are  made  in  this  place  to  shine  upon  me. 
Jesus  Christ  also  was  never  more  real  and  apparent  than  now. 
Here  I  have  seen  him  and  felt  him  indeed.  I  have  seen 
that  here  that  I  am  persuaded  I  shall  never  while  in  this  world 
be  able  to  express.  I  never  knew  what  it  was  for  God  to 
stand  by  me  at  all  turns,  and  at  every  offer  of  Satan  to  afflict 
me  as  I  have  found  Him  since  I  came  in  hither.  As  being 
very  tender  of  me,  he  hath  not  suffered  me  to  be  molested,  but 
would  with  one  scripture  and  another  strengthen  me  against 
all ;  insomuch  that  I  have  often  said,  were  it  lawful  I  could 
pray  for  greater  trouble  for  the  greater  comfort's  sake.  !Many 
more  of  the  dealings  of  God  towards  me  I  might  relate,  but 
these  out  of  the  spoils  won  in  battle  have  I  dedicated  to  main- 
tain the  house  of  God." 


IX. 

THE  CHUECH  IN  THE  STORM. 

In  one  of  those-  quarto  pamphlets  which  were  the  newspapers 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  there  is  an  account  of  a  tempest 
that  in  the  year  of  Bunyan's  release,  swept  with  unusual  violence 
over  the  town  of  Bedford.  It  began  with  a  great  darkness 
which  was  soon  exchanged  for  such  vivid  flashes  of  light- 
ning "  that  the  people  of  the  adjacent  places  did  believe  the 
whole  town  of  Bedford  to  be  on  a  light  flame."  In  the  half 
hour  during  which  it  raged,  the  storm  lifted  great  gates  from 
off  their  hinges,  whirled  the  goods  of  the  tradesmen  out  of 
their  shops,  and  the  stacks  of  the  farmers  out  of  their  fields. 
"  Twenty  of  Justice  Barber's  stoutest  Elms  were  torn  up  by 
the  roots,  and  one  great  Tree  was  carried  from  beyond  the 
river  over  our  Paul's  steeple."  Some  of  the  churches  were 
"  much  damnified,"  stone  walls  were  hurled  to  the  ground,  and 
"  two  houses  torne  down  in  an  instant  to  the  dreadful  amaze- 
ment of  the  spectators."  This  stern  visitation,  the  story  of 
which  was  duly  attested  at  the  end  of  the  pamphlet  by  Mithnal 
the  mayor.  Gardener  the  recorder,  Christy  the  lawyer,  and 
Hush  the  waggoner,  would  probably  have  been  accepted  by 
the  Church  at  Bedford,  as  nature's  own  symbol  of  that  other 
storm  through  which  they  themselves  had  been  passing  during 
the  years  between  the  Restoration  of  1660  and  the  Declaration 
of  Indulgence  of  1672.  We  have  followed  Bunyan's  personal 
fortunes  during  this  period,  it  may  be  well  now  to  go  back  and 
see  what  was  happening  to  his  brethren  in  the  church  while  he 
was  spending  his  time  in  gaol. 

It  was  but  a  trifling  matter,  perhaps,  but  it  was  a  signifi- 
cant sign  of  altered  times  when  the  Corporation  of  Bedford,  in 
1661,  admitted  into  the  Town  Guild  as  burgesses,  and  as  a 


1661.]  THE  CnUMCU  IS  niE  STOBM.  1<)3 

special  murk  of  distinction,  four  of  the  five  justices  who  a  few 
months  before  had  sent  Bunyun  to  Bedford  gaol,  Kelynge, 
Chester,  Beecher,  and  Blundell.  To  the  same  honour,  also, 
and  at  the  same  time  they  received  Wingate's  brother-in-law, 
Foster,  whom  Bunyan  had  described  as  "a  right  Judas,"  and 
of  whose  hard  hand  the  Nonconformists  of  Bedfordshire  were 
to  have  such  stern  experience  for  some  years  to  come. 

Nationally  too,  as  well  as  locally,  there  were  omens  of  stormy 
weather.  One  Sunday  evening,  some  seven  weeks  after 
Bunyan's  arrest,  a  riot  had  broken  out  in  the  City  of  London 
among  some  Fifth  Monarchy  men,  led  by  a  wine-cooper  named 
Venner.  Phrenzied  by  literal  interpretations  of  the  book  of 
the  Ilevelation,  these  fanatics  rushed  out  into  the  streets  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  St.  Paul's,  intending  at  once  to  set 
about  the  destruction  of  the  mystical  Babylon,  the  overthrow  of 
monarchy,  and  the  setting  up  of  the  reign  of  King  Jesus.  In 
this  mad  venture  many  of  them  lost  their  lives,  some  bcinu: 
slain  in  the  outbreak,  and  thirteen  brought  to  the  scaffold  after- 
wards. But  this  was  the  least  of  the  mischief.  This  escapade 
of  theirs  brought  results  of  the  most  serious  kind  to  many 
innocent  people  throughout  the  country.  The  men  who  had 
just  grasped  the  reins  of  power  were  on  the  outlook  for  some 
plausible  excuse  for  putting  down  the  worship  of  Noncon- 
formists, and  here  it  was  ready  to  their  hand.  They  were  not 
slow  to  use  it.  The  very  day  after  the  riot  was  suppressed,  a 
proclamation  was  issued  from  Whitehall  "for  restraining  all 
seditious  meetings  and  conventicles  under  pretence  of  religious 
worship,  and  forbidding  any  meetings  for  worship,  oxcoj)t  in 
parochial  churches  or  chapels."  The  (Quakers  and  Baptists 
were  e.vpres^ly  named  in  the  proclamation  along  with  the  l"'il"th 
Monarchy  men,  and  though  the  Independents  were  not  actually 
named  they  knew  themselves  to  be  involved  in  the  conse- 
(juences.  Venner  had  himself  protested  that  these  people  were 
no  as-sociutes  of  his ;  twenty  of  the  London  ministers  among 
the  Lidependents  publislied  a  manifesto,  declaring  their  abhor- 
rence of  the  rebellion,  and  their  loyalty  to  the  King  and  liia 
government;  thirty-live  of  the  Ba])tist  ministers  did  the  same; 
and  George  Fox  with  others  published  "  A  declaration  from 
the  hurmleBs  uud  innocent  people  culled   (Quakers,  ugainat  all 


194  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ix. 

sedition,  plotters,  and  fighters  in  the  world."  It  was  all  to 
no  purpose.  What  small  respect  had  hitherto  been  shown  for 
the  King's  promise  from  Breda,  ceased  altogether,  and  soon  the 
silenced   and  imprisoned  were  to  be  counted  by  scores  over  the 

country. 

Exactly  four  months  after  the  Venner  insurrection,  the  new 
parliament  met  on  the  8th  of  May,  1661.  The  great  majority 
of  its  members  were  cavaliers,  old  and  young,  and  Church  of 
England  men  to  the  backbone.  Their  mettle  was  quickly 
shown  by  the  way  they  began  business.  The  first  thing  they 
did  was  to  pass  a  resolution  that  every  member  of  the  House 
should  receive  the  sacrament  on  a  fixed  day,  according  to  the 
form  prescribed  in  the  liturgy,  and  scrutineers  were  to  report 
defaulters.  To  this  parliament  there  went  up  from  Bedford- 
shire, Lord  Bruce  and  Sir  John  Winch  for  the  county,  and  Sir 
John  Kelynge  and  Richard  Taylor  for  the  borough.  The  next 
month  the  House  set  about  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  Sir  John 
Kelynge  being  appointed  with  others  to  draw  up  the  Bill,  which 
was  read  for  the  first  time  on  the  14th  of  January,  1662.  The 
House  was  prepared  for  much,  but  a  measure  so  drastic  roused 
strong  resistance  even  in  such  a  parliament  as  that.  It  was  op- 
posed at  every  step,  and  important  as  its  consequences  have  been 
for  more  than  two  centuries,  it  was  only  passed  eventually  by 
a  majority  of  six,  the  numbers  being  186  for  and  180  against. 

The  difiiculties  in  the  way  of  the  Bill  in  the  House  of  Lords 
were  even  greater  than  those  in  the  Commons,  some  of  the 
peers  wishing  to  exempt  schoolmasters,  and  ministers  acting  as 
tutors.  There  was  a  conference  of  the  two  Houses,  when  the 
Lords,  more  liberal  than  the  Commons,  reminded  the  latter  of 
the  King's  declarations  from  Breda  in  favour  of  tender  con- 
sciences, the  Commons  replying  that  a  schismatical  conscience 
was  not  a  tender  conscience.  But  at  length,  after  much  delay, 
the  Bill  passed  the  Lords  on  the  8th  of  May.  It  was  still 
hoped,  however,  that  considering  the  narrow  majority  in  the 
Commons,  and  the  opposition  in  the  Lords,  the  royal  assent 
would  be  withheld.  It  was  a  time  of  much  anxiety  through 
the  country.  Good  Philip  Henry  of  Broad  Oak  wrote  in  his 
journal,  "  A  severe  Act  has  passed  both  Houses  of  Parliament, 
but  ic  is  not  yet  signed  by  the  King.    Lord,  his  heart  is  in  Thy 


1UG2.]  THE  CHURCH  IX  THE  STOIUL  I'JJ 

hand  ;  if  it  be  Thy  will,  turn  it ;  if  otherwise,  fit  Thy  people  to 
sufler,  and  cut  short  the  work  in  ri<>hteousness."  It  was  even 
so  ;  hopes  were  vain  and  fears  well-founded,  for  the  Kinj^  g^avo 
his  assent  on  the  19th  of  May,  when  the  Act  of  Unifornnty 
became  law. 

While  other  matters  were  involved  of  merely  temporary 
interest,  the  two  provisions  in  the  Act  of  vital  moment  were 
the  one  which  required  that  every  minister  in  the  Church 
should  before  the  2-lth  of  August,  openly,  publicly,  and 
solemnly  read  the  morning  and  evening  prayer,  and  after  such 
reading,  openly  and  publicly  declare  before  the  congregation 
his  unfeigned  assent  and  consent  to  everythinii:  contained  in  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer  ;  and  the  other  which  made  episcopal 
ordination  indispensable  to  every  minister  in  the  Church,  no 
matter  whether  previously  ordained  in  any  other  way  or  not. 
The  first  of  these  provisions,  as  Hullam  says,  amounts  in  coiu 
mon  use  of  language  to  a  complete  approbation  of  an  entire 
volume,  such  as  a  man  of  sense  hardly  gives  to  any  book ;  and 
the  second  at  a  stroke  cut  off  the  Anglican  church  from  all  the 
other  Protestant  churches  of  Europe.  From  the  beginning  of 
the  Reformation  it  had  not  been  unusual  to  admit  ministers 
ordained  in  Ibreign  Protestant  churches  to  benefices  in  Eng- 
land, without  requiring  re-ordination.  This  no  longer  suited 
the  passion  and  policy  of  the  time,  and  was  brought  to  an  end. 

These,  then,  were  the  terms  of  continuanco  about  which  there 
was  to  be  no  temporizing.  Refusal  of  assent  was  to  be  followed 
by  forfeiture  of  benefice  ;  any  person  prcacliing  after  being  dis- 
qualified should  be  subject  to  three  months'  imprisonment,  aTid 
any  person  acting  as  a  minister  of  tlie  Church  of  J^nghuid, 
without  having  received  episcopal  ordination,  no  matter  what 
his  previous  ordination  might  have  been,  should  be  liable  to  a 
penalty  of  £100. 

Upwards  of  two  thousand  ministers  of  the  Church,  di'vout 
and,  as  they  showed  ?jy  the  sacrifices  they  made,  conscientious 
men,  felt  that  the  conditions  were  such  as  they  could  not 
accept.  (Jn  the  cvor-memorable  'Jllli  of  August,  lOO'J,  th(» 
IJlack  Bartholomew  of  the  English  Church,  they  went  forth 
fntrn  llicir  livin;;s  and  their  flocks,  tlm  greater  part  of  tii(Mn 
n<jt    knowing    whither    ihey    went.      Thirteen    of    tin  m'    wno 

o2 


196  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ix. 

from  Bedfordsliire.  The  ejected  clergy  from  this  county 
were  William  Millington  of  Cardington,  William  Wheeler 
of  Cranfield,  Robert  Perrot  of  Deane,  Samuel  Fairclough  of 
Houghton  Conquest,  John  Hind  of  Milton,  John  Donne  of 
Pertenhall,  James  Mabbison  of  Poxton,  Edward  Polt  of  Temps- 
ford,  William  Shepherd  of  Tilbrook,  William  Blagrave  of 
Woburn,  William  Dell  of  Yelden,  William  Willows,  and 
William  Milburn.  Edward  Fowler  of  Northill  was  dissatis- 
fied at  first,  but  ultimately  conformed,  and  was  eventually 
made  Bishop  of  Gloucester.  John  Thornton,  the  chaplain  at 
Woburn  Abbey,  though  losing  no  incumbency  by  the  Act  of 
Uniformity,  yet  was  kept  out  of  preferment  by  it,  and  lived 
and  died  a  Nonconformist.  During  the  life  of  the  first  Duke 
of  Bedford  he  still  remained  at  the  Abbey,  reading  mathe- 
matics with  Lord  William  Russell,  and  afterwards  residing 
with  Lady  Rachel  till  he  lost  his  sight  and  retired  into  private 
life.*  It  is  pleasant  to  find  that  old  Mr.  Ashurst,  the  vicar  of 
Arlsey,  though  at  heart  a  Nonconformist,  was  not  disturbed. 
He  was  a  kind,  good  man,  revered  by  the  whole  parish  for  his 
piety  and  humility,  and  as  he  had  been  episcopally  ordained, 
and  his  eminent  parishioner.  Justice  Brown,  stood  his  friend, 
he  was  allowed  to  continue,  and  jDermitted  to  read  and  practise 
as  much  as  he  believed,  and  to  leave  the  rest.  Edward  Stilling- 
fleet,  also,  as  rector  of  Sutton,  sheltered  in  his  own  rectory 
one  of  the  ejected  ministers,  and  took  a  large  house  in  the 
parish  for  another,  his  old  friend,  Richard  Kennett,  the  ejected 
minister  of  East  Hatley,  starting  him  in  a  school  there,  which 
was  supported  by  the  neighbouring  gentry.  Kennett,  who  was 
related  to  the  father  of  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough  of  that 
name,  lived  on  at  Sutton  till  1670,  when  he  died  of  fever,  and 
was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  the  church.  These  evasions  of  the 
law  were  less  difficult  in  the  diocese  of  Lincoln,  perhaps,  than 
elsewhere,  inasmuch  as  Bishop  Laney  was  more  tolerant  than 
most  bishops  of  his  time.  "  Not  I  but  the  law,"  said  he  to  his 
clergy,  and  to  use  his  own  expression,  he  could  look  through 
his  fingers,  as  he  evidently  did. 

The  church  at  Bedford  having  lost  its  minister  by  death 
some  three  months  after  the  Restoration,  was  deprived  of  its 
*  Letters  of  Machael  Lady  Russell,!.,  114. 


1G60.]  THE  CnURCU  AV  THE  STORM.  107 

place  of  meeting  two  years  before  the  Act  of  Unifoniiitv  came 
into  force.  Had  John  Burton  lived  longer,  he  would  ])robably 
have  added  one  more  to  the  ejected  clergy  of  Bed  lord  shire,  in 
1002,  but  dving  as  he  did  at  the  verv  crisis  of  chanrre,  the 
living  at  8t.  John's  fell  vacant  at  a  time  when  the  Corporation 
were  little  likely  to  appoint  a  successor  acceptable  to  the  Church 
which  had  worshipped  there  for  seven  years  past.  The  brethren 
therefore  found  themselves  deprived  of  their  place  of  meeting 
as  early  as  the  autumn  of  lt)()0.  After  this  they  met  where 
they  could,  sometimes  in  each  other's  houses  in  the  town,  and 
sometimes  in  the  barns  and  kitchens  of  farm-houses  in  the 
country  round.  In  1G70,  ten  years  later,  we  find  them  meet- 
ing for  worship  at  John  Fenn's  house  in  the  High  Street ;  and 
from  the  records  they  kept  it  appears  that  they  held  their 
meetings  also  at  Hawnes  and  Cotten  End,  villages  about  four 
miles  distant,  at  Edworth  on  the  Ilertfordsliire  borders,  and 
at  Gamlingay  in  Cambridgeshire,  some  fifteen  miles  away. 
The  following  are  the  minutes  of  the  church  between  IGGO 
and  1GG3  :— 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Church  y"  latter  part  of  y"  8t]i  monoth 
[Nov.  7th].  It  having  been  the  agrecmeut  of  the  churclios  together 
that  if  tlie  Lord  sliouIJ  remove  auy  pastors  or  teachers  from  any  of 
us,  that  we  should  advise  with  our  brethren  in  the  other  Congrega- 
tions, with  re.spect  to  our  future  choyce  ;  we  are  agreed  that  letters 
be  Bent  to  our  l>r(jtlier  AVlieder,  brotlier  Donne  and  brother  Giblis, 
to  meet  with  our  brotlu-r  Kbton,  brother  (irew,  brollier  Wliitbread, 
brotlier  Harrington,  brotlier  ffenne,  the  8tli  day  of  tlio  ne.\t 
moneth  ;  tliese  brethren  being  deputed  by  the  Chun  li  to  coafun'o 
with  tljem,  about  our  affaires  in  y"  matter. 

"  Wo  are  agreed  to  set  apart  y'=  I'ith  of  y"  next  monetli  to  seeke 
the  Jx»rd  in  y'  behulfe  of  the  congregation,  tluit  (Jod  would  direeto 
and  keepo  u.s  in  sucli  a  time  as  tliis  ;  and  also  for  all  the  eluinhes 
of  God  and  for  y«  nation,  that  lie  would  direct  our  governors  in 
their  meeting  together. 

"  fFor  as  nmeh  a.s  wjpjo  of  our  brethren  and  sisters  have  nef.';le(ted 
to  come  to  our  Cliurdi  meotings,  and  tlieir  withdiiiwinj^f  f.^iveth  very 
ill  o.xample  to  otlierH,  wo  are  agreed  to  desire  our  Itrotlier  Rston, 
brother  Grow,  brother  Whiteman,  ami  brnlinr  llarrinj^ton  to  take 
w>rao  time  speedily  to  Hpeakcj  to  tliem  Hr-riouKly  concerning  their 
withdrawing'  from  us,  and  to  mind  them  of  their  duty. 

"At  a  mee-fing  of  y'^Cliunh    the  latter   part  of  y*  IHli  niuii.tli 


198  JOHN  BUNTAN.  [chap.  ix. 

[Dec.].  We  having  according  to  our  agreement  last  Church 
meeting  sent  to  our  brethren  afore  mentioned  to  meet  with  and 
advise  with  us  about  y''  choyce  of  a  Pastor  ;  and  before  y*  meeting 
a  considerable  company  of  the  brethren  of  our  Society  met  together, 
and  upon  debate  thought  to  make  choyce  of  Mr.  Wheeler,  and  when 
our  saide  brethren  were  come  we  imparted  our  thought  to  y®",  and 
to  our  brother  Wheeler,  whose  answer  was  That  he  would  consider 
the  thing  and  seek  the  Lord  y*  he  might  see  his  hand  leading  him 
to  us,  and  also  that  it  might  be  mentioned  to  that  congregation 
where  he  is  a  member,  and  to  that  end  we  have  wrote  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Gibbs,  teacher  of  that  congregation.  It  is  agreed  that  brother 
Whitbread  be  desired  to  speake  a  word  to  us  the  next  Church 
Meeting. 

"At  a  meeting  of  y®  Church  the  latter  part  of  y^  10th  moneth 
[Jan.].  Whereas  some  of  our  brethren  and  sisters  have  absented 
themselves,  and  our  visiting  of  them  by  certaine  of  our  members 
hath  for  some  time  bene  layde  by ;  we  desire  oiu*  sister  Cooper  and 
sister  Bishop  to  speake  with  sister  Wheeler  and  sister  Peacock  fully 
about  their  withdrawing,  and  to  give  an  account  to  the  Church  of 
the  frame  of  their  spirits.  Our  sister  Warner  being  in  affliction  by 
the  losse  of  her  hvisband  and  streights  also  as  to  her  outward  state, 
we  desire  brother  John  Fenne  and  brother  Harrington  to  go  visit 
her  and  give  an  account  to  the  Church  of  her  condition. 

"1661.  Our  meetings  (viz.  of  this  sort)  having  bene  for  some 
time  neglected  through  the  increase  of  trouble,  the  28th  of  the  6th 
moneth  [Sept.  28th],  1661,  the  Church  through  mercy  againe  met: 
agreed,  That  whereas  certaine  of  our  friends  have  not  onely 
withdrawne  themselves,  but  also  otherwaies  failed,  some  of  our 
titriends  be  sent  to  admonish  them  of  the  same,  viz.  :  Our  brother 
Samuell  Ifenne  to  Sister  Pecock  of  Okely,  and  sister  Phebe 
Gibbs ;  our  brother  Bunyan  to  brother  Robert  Nelson  and  Sister 
Manly,  &c. 

"  26th  of  the  7th  moneth  [26th  Oct.]:  There  was  received  into 
fellowship  with  this  congregation  Thomas  Cooper.  The  next  6th 
day  of  the  week  was  appointed  to  be  spent  in  prayer.  We  desire 
brother  Bunyan  and  brother  John  Ifenne  to  go  againe  to  Sister 
Pecock.  And  that  brother  Harrington  do  visit  brother  Wallis  being 
sick  :  and  brother  John  ifenne  Sister  Coote. 

"  Latter  part  of  the  8th  moneth  [Nov.].  Our  brother  John 
Croker  and  Pichnrd  Deane  were  admitted  to  have  comunion  with 
UB.  We  are  agreed  that  next  2nd  day  of  the  week  come  sevennight 
be  set  apart  to  seek  God.  Brethren  were  also  appointed  to  repaire 
to  brother  Nelson  and  in  the  name  of  the  Church  acquaint  him  with 


16G2.]  TUB  CnURCH  IX  THE  STORM.  lOH 

their  sense  of  liis  disorder,  and  as  nmch  as  in  tlieiu  lyotb  indeavour 
liis  sense  and  reformation  of  his  niiscarriaj^o. 

"It  is  also  agreed  and  desired  that  the  severall  members  of  tlie 
Cliurch  be  all  visited  betwixt  this  and  the  next  Churcli  Meeting  ; 
and  that  the  members  intrusted  with  that  worke  and  duty  be  all 
I)ri'Sfut  at  y*  next  meeting  and  give  an  account  of  their  performancH 
therein.  ffor  visiting  the  members  inhabitiuge  at  Bedford  is 
appointed  brother  John  tfenne,  and  brother  Croker,  and  brother 
Harrington  and  brother  Samuel  ti'enne ;  tfor  Cardington,  brother 
AVhiti'man  and  brother  Whitbread ;  ft'or  Kempston,  brothe* 
William  Wallis  and  brother  English ;  ffor  Okely  and  iiensum. 
brother  I'aine ;  H'or  "NVilsliamstead,  Houghton,  and  Hanes, 
brother  Aseldine  and  brother  Man ;  tfor  Elvostow,  brother 
Holstock.  These  deputed  members  may  as  they  shall  see  occasion 
from  what  tlioy  heare  or  observe  deale  severally  with  tliem  that 
they  visit ;  and  desire  tlieir  generall  appearance,  if  it  may  be,  at 
the  next  Chm-ch  meeting. 

"1662.  At  y*  meeting  of  the  Cliurch  the  loth  of  the  second 
moneth  [loth  Ma}'],  1662  :  It  is  agreed  that  brother  Donne,  bruther 
"Wheeler,  brother  Gibbs,  and  brother  Ilolcroft  be  desired  to  spend 
their  paines  with  us  once  in  three  weekes  by  turnes :  ^Ir.  Donne 
y*  4th  day  of  the  3rd  moneth  [-Ith  June]  :  brother  Wheeler  that 
day  3  weekes;  brother  Holcroft,  the  3rd  fii'st  day  after,  and  Mr. 
Gibbs  the  3rd  day  after. 

"Also  that  it  be  inquired  of  the  Pastors  in  London  whotlier  tlie 
pastor  of  one  Congregation  do  administer  tlie  ordinance  of  the 
hupj)er  to  anotlier  Congregation  ;  and  on  what  JScripturo  grounds 
they  do  it  or  refuse. 

"  1(;63.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Church  in  Bedford  the  beginning  of 
the  10th  moneth  [Jan.],  '63.  The  former  intention  and  desire  of 
the  Church  that  Mr.  "NVlieeler  sliould  minister  unto  them  in  the 
iiffice  of  a  pastor  or  elder,  not  being  prosecuteii ;  by  reason  parth 
of  the  unwillingness  of  the  congregation  whereof  ho  was  a  member 
to  give  him  up  to  us  and  also  his  owne  unwillingness  upon  thai 
account ;  and  partly  because  tlio  Church  liero  afterwards  thought 
it  not  convenient  to  pr<?sse  it,  least  it  might  indeed  ])roovo  a  disad- 
vantage to  their  brethren  aforesaide :  Tlie  Ciiurch  i^nolwillistandiiig 
their  soro  porsocutionH  now  come  upon  tlu-ni)  having  spent  many 
duyes  in  prayer  with  fasting,  to  soeko  u  right  way  of  the  L'>id  in 
this  matter;  did  joyntly  make  choyco  of  brothc^r  Samuell  Ifenne 
(nc;w  lately  delivered  out  at  jirison)  and  brother  John  Whiteniun 
for  tlii'ir  pastors  and  elders,  to  minihter  the  word  and  ordinances  ot 
JeaUB  Chribt  to  them;  and  tliey  at  this  meotiug  did  soloninely  before 


200  JOnN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ix. 

Grod  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  elect  angells,  give  up 
themselves  to  serve,  feed,  and  watch  over  this  congregation,  for 
Jesus'  sake  (according  to  the  charge  layde  upon  them  and  accepted 
by  them)  according  to  the  measure  of  grace  received. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Church  the  latter  part  of  the  10th  moneth 
[Jan.],  Bedford.  There  was  received  into  fellowship  with  this 
congregation  our  Sister  Barker  of  Kempston. 

"At  a  meeting  of  y*  Church  at  Hanes  the  22nd  of  the  11th 
moneth  [22nd  Feb.]  :  Grod  appearing  in  his  glory  to  build  up  his 
Zion,  there  was  with  joy  received  into  fellowship  with  this  congre- 
gation Jonah  Whittimore,  Henery  Warde,  Elizabeth  Maxye,  Sister 
Locke,  and  Joane  Layton. 

"At  the  meeting  of  the  church  at  Bedford  y*'  28th  of  the  11th 
moneth  [28th  Feb.],  there  was  received  into  fellowship  with  us 
Eleazar  Hawkins  and  Mary  ifosket. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Church  at  Hanes,  the  26th  of  the  12th 
moneth  [26th  March],  the  Church  received  to  walke  in  fellowship 
with  them.  Sister  Whittimore,  Mary  Locke,  brother  Eoxe  and 
Oliver  Thody. 

"  At  another  Church  meeting  at  Hanes  were  received  to  walke  in 
fellowship  with  the  congregation,  brother  Warren  and  Sister 
Warren,  Sister  Lee,  and  Sister  Eandall." 

«  «  «  «  «  « 

This  was  the  last  entry  for  1663,  after  which  tbere  comes  a 
long  and  ominous  gap  of  five  years  and  a  half,  the  next  re- 
corded meeting  of  the  Church  being  held  at  Hawnes  on  the 
9th  of  September,  1668,  To  understand  the  meaning  of  this 
break  in  the  records  we  must  briefly  recall  the  policy  of  the 
nation  in  the  interval. 

The  immediate  effect  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity  was  to  drive 
through  the  nation  that  line  of  cleavage  which  has  continued 
ever  since.  There  had,  of  course,  been  varied  phases  of  Non- 
conformity before,  but  never  so  distinctly  defined  and  sepa- 
rated as  after  1662.  Henceforth  there  were  on  one  side  of  the 
line  those  who  accepted  Episcopacy  and  conformed  to  its  ritual 
and  requirements,  and  on  the  other  the  Nonconformists,  who,  as 
they  contended,  on  scriptural  grounds  declined  to  do  this  and 
preferred  a  simpler  and  freer  worship.  Between  these  two 
opposing  parties  there  was  to  be  for  years  no  truce  or  parley. 
The  Act  of  Uniformity  having  become  law.  Clarendon,  as  he 


1GG4.]  THE  CnUECn  IX  THE  STORM.  201 

liimself  says,  "thought  it  absohitely  necessary  to  see  obedience 
paid  to  it  without  any  connivance."  The  policy  of  the  Church 
Towards  Nonconformity  was  therefore  to  be  a  policy  of  stamp- 
ing out.  It  remained  to  be  seen  which  side  could  hold  out 
longest.  As  Beza  said  to  the  King  of  France,  it  is  the  part 
of  the  Church  to  suffer  rather  than  to  strike,  but  it  is  an 
anvil  that  has  worn  out  a  good  many  hammers.  In  the  days  of 
the  second  Charles  it  was  destined  to  wear  out  one  hammer  more. 
Not  that  the  king  himself  had  very  much  heart  in  the  high- 
handed policy  of  the  Chancellor  and  the  House  of  Commons. 
If  under  his  easy-going  indolence  he  had  any  serious  purpose 
at  all,  it  was  to  obtain  toleration  for  the  Roman  Catholics.  lie 
had  a  secret  policy  of  his  own  with  the  Pope  apart  from 
Clarendon.  At  a  private  meeting  of  leading  Roman  Catholics, 
held  at  the  house  of  the  Earl  of  Bristol,  it  was  agreed  that  the 
best  policy  for  them  to  pursue  would  be  to  bestir  themselves 
for  a  toleration  of  all  Nonconformists.  Burnet,  who  is  probably 
right,  says  that  though  the  Earl  of  Bristol  was  the  one  seen 
moving  in  the  matter,  the  real  designer  out  of  sight  was  the 
king  himself.  Be  that  as  it  may,  on  the  26th  of  December, 
1GG2,  and  therefore  before  the  Act  of  Uniformity  was  more 
than  a  few  months  old,  there  went  forth  from  the  Court  at 
Whitehall  a  declaration  of  a  General  Religious  Toleration, 
stating  that  in  the  next  Session  of  Parliament  the  king  would 
ask  the  House  to  concur  with  himself  in  devising  some  means 
of  freeing  from  the  penalties  of  the  Act  those  who  living 
peaceably  desired,  '*  through  scruple  or  tenderness  of  misguided 
conscience,"  to  worshij)  in  their  own  way.  It  was  a  distinct 
challenge  of  Clarendon's  policy,  and  the  House  of  Commons 
was  not  slow  to  take  it  up  on  his  behalf.  The  only  eH'ect 
of  this  attempt  to  secure  greater  liberty  for  the  Noncon- 
formists was  to  stir  up  at  once  a  more  determined  animosity 
against  them.  The  passing  of  the  Conventicle  Act  was  the 
answer  of  Parliament  to  the  appeal  from  the  Crown.  This 
Act  provided  that  the  first  offence  of  being  in  a  conventicle  or 
meeting  (^f  more  than  five  j)ersons  in  addition  to  the  members 
of  a  family,  for  any  religious  purpose  not  in  conformity  with 
the  Church  of  England,  should  be  punished  with  a  fine  of  £5 
or  three  months'  imprisonment,  the  second  witli  a  fine  of    ll<' 


202  JOHN  BUN  YAK  [chap.  ix. 

or  six  months',  and  the  third,  after  trial  and  conviction  at  the 
Assizes  or  Quarter  Sessions,  by  transportation  for  seven  years, 
unless  the  person  convicted  redeemed  himself  by  paying-  down 
£100.  The  Act  was  to  come  into  operation  on  the  1st  of  July, 
1664,  and  to  be  in  force  for  three  years. 

This  Act  is  the  explanation  of  the  long  and  ominous  silence 
in  the  Bedford  Church  book.  The  members  of  that  Church 
still  kept  up  their  meetings  for  worship,  as  is  shown  by  the 
remonstrances  afterwards  addressed  to  those  who  stayed  away 
from  them  ;  but  their  gatherings  were  in  secret  places,  and 
they  kept  no  minutes  of  their  proceedings.  In  prison  and  out, 
fined  and  ruined  by  accumulated  fines,  they  went  on  their  way 
for  five  years.  Some  quailed  before  the  storm,  "  breaking 
covenant  with  God,  and  fellowship  with  this  congregation,"  or 
"recanting  their  profession  at  a  General  Quarter  Sessions," 
or  being  "  openly  and  profanely  bishopt  to  the  great  profana- 
tion of  God's  order  and  the  heartbreaking  of  their  Christian 
brethren."  But  there  was  always  a  stouthearted  remnant  who 
stood  firm  and  quailed  not. 

The  Act  of  Uniformity  fell  mainly  upon  the  ministers  among 
the  Nonconformists,  the  Conventicle  Act  upon  the  people.  In 
October,  1665,  the  Five  Mile  Act  followed  the  Conventicle 
Act,  and  was  another  blow  aimed  at  the  ministers,  banishing 
them  under  a  penalty  of  £40  to  a  distance  of  five  miles  from 
any  city  or  town-corporate,  or  borough  sending  members 
to  Parliament,  or  any  parish  or  place  where  they  had  formerly 
preached  or  taught.  The  chief  promoters  of  this  heartless 
and  cruel  measure  were  Clarendon,  Archbishop  Sheldon,  and 
Dr.  Seth  "Ward,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  and  its  immediate  effect 
was  to  banish  hundreds  of  blameless  men,  deprived  of  their 
livings  and  struggling  for  bread,  to  a  distance  from  all  their 
friends,  into  obscure  places  where  there  was  no  chance  of  earn- 
ing a  livelihood. 

But  if  it  was  an  ill  time  for  the  Nonconformists,  it  was  by 
no  means  a  good  time  for  the  nation.  The  great  Plague  cast 
its  dark  shadow,  and  the  great  Fire  its  lurid  glare,  not  only 
over  the  city  they  devastated,  but  over  the  whole  land  of  which 
that  city  was  the  capital.  The  profligates  of  the  Court  were 
appalled  for  the  moment,  and   even  the  king  "had  been  heard 


]66S.]  THE  CnURCR  IX  THE  STORM.  203 

during  that  time  to  speak  with  great  piety  and  devotion  of  the 
displeasure  that  God  was  provoked  to."  But  with  the  king, 
as  with  some  other  people,  pious  reflections  were  not  neces- 
sarily followed  by  pious  behaviour.  The  old  life  of  sensuality 
went  its  old  vicious  round.  In  the  nation  credit  was  sinking, 
money  misspent,  and  the  war  with  the  Dutch  taking  bad  ways. 
But  the  shock  most  startling  and  most  humbling  of  all  came 
when  the  Dutch  actually  sailed  up  the  Thames  and  the  Med- 
way,  and  there  was  no  one  to  stop  them,  "everybody  flying, 
none  knew  why  or  whither."  As  the  citizens  were  packing  up 
their  valuables  and  sending  them  into  the  country  and  there 
was  talk  of  removing  the  Court  to  Windsor,  the  high-spirited 
English  nation,  more  accustomed  to  invade  than  to  be  invaded, 
were  led  to  reflect.  Now,  if  never  before,  they  began  to  think 
it  would  have  been  well,  had  it  been  possible,  to  have  Cromwell 
back  for  awhile.  "  It  is  strange,"  says  Pepys,  "  how  every- 
body do  nowadays  reflect  upon  Oliver  and  commend  him,  what 
brave  things  he  did  and  made  all  the  neiglibour  princes  fear 
him  ;  while  here  a  prince,  come  in  with  all  the  love  and  prayers 
and  good  liking  of  his  people,  hath  lost  all  so  soon,  that  it  is 
a  miracle  what  way  a  man  could  devise  to  lose  so  much  in  so 
little  time." 

In  the  crash  of  that  evil  time  came  down  Clarendon,  the 
ruling  spirit  of  pcr>ecution,  and  with  the  fall  of  the  minister  tlie 
njonarch  assumed  more  direct  control.  With  the  ascendancy 
of  Clarendon's  successors  there  came  relaxations  of  the  severities 
against  Nonconformists.  The  Parliament  was  unchanged.  Even 
though  it  had  spent  a  largo  part  of  the  Session  of  1()G7-S  in 
impeaching  Clarendon  and  banisiiiiig  him  from  the  country, 
it  WU8  itself,  as  has  been  said,  "  in  two-thirds  of  its  bulk  still 
an  obdurate  mass  of  unmitigated  Clarendimianism  in  all  matters 
ecclesiastical."  The  Conventicle  Act  expired  on  the  '2nd  of 
March,  l(j<J7-H,  and  Parliament  set  about  renewing  the  Act; 
indeed,  the  bill  for  that  ptirpose  had  j)assed  the  Commons  on 
the  2Nth  of  April  by  11  \  votes  to  7H  ;  but  before  it  could  pass 
the  Lords,  on  the  !Hh  of  ^lay  the  two  Houses  adjuurned  by  the 
king's  desire,  and  the  Act  was  therefore  not  renewed. 

It  was  seventeen  months  bef(jre  Parliament  met  again,  and, 
us  there  was  now  no  Conventicle  Act,  during  that  brief  breath- 


204  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap.  ix. 

ing  time  the  Nonconformists  enjoyed  more  liberty  than  they  had 
done  since  1663.  Both  in  London  and  the  country  they  were 
connived  at,  and  people  went  openly  to  their  meetings,  without 
fear.  John  Bradshaw,  the  vicar  of  St.  Paul's  in  Bedford, 
thought  indeed  that  this  liberty,  small  as  it  was,  would  be  the 
country's  ruin.  In  a  letter  to  the  Dean  of  Lincoln,  dated 
June  13th,  1668,  he  says,  "  The  separatists  increase  daily. 
God  amend  all  things  in  this  nation."  This  accounts  for  the 
fact  that  in  1668  the  Church  at  Bedford  held  its  meetings 
again  and  commenced  once  more,  after  five  years  and  a  half, 
that  record  of  its  acts  which  has  never  been  interrupted  since. 
Forthwith  we  come  upon  the  following  entries,  which  must 
have  been  recorded  with  very  mingled  feelings  : — 

"  1668.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Church  at  Hanes,  the  9th  of  the 
7th  moneth  [9th  Oct.],  '68,  We  then  received  Sister  Heath  and  Sister 
Halle,  of  Clophill,  to  walke  in  fellowship  with  us. 

"At  Bedford  y^  25th  of  the  7th  moneth  [25th  Oct.],  There  was 
received  with  gladness  into  cofilunion  with  this  Church  Thomas 
Hunilove,  and  Edward  Isaac  and  his  wife. 

"  Bedford,  y*^  30th  day  of  the  8th  moneth  [30th  Nov.].  Many  of 
the  friends  having  in  these  troublous  times  withdrawne  themselves 
from  close  walking  with  the  Church  and  not  being  reclaimed  by 
those  admonitions,  that,  as  time  would  serve,  had  been  sent  to  them 
formerly,  some  also  being  gmlty  of  more  grosse  miscarriages,  the 
Congregation  having  kept  certaine  days  with  fasting  and  prayer, 
bewailed  their  faU,  did  now  agree  in  a  solemne  way  to  renew  their 
admonitions ;  And  did  agree  That  brother  Samuel  ffenne  and 
brother  John  ffenne  and  brother  Bunyan  should  speake  with 
brother  Eobert  Nelson  and  admonish  him  for  his  withdrawing 
from  the  Church  and  other  miscarriages.  And  that  brother  Samuell 
ffenne  and  brother  John  Croker  go  to  our  brother  Eichard  Deane 
to  admonish  him  and  rebuke  him  for  his  withdrawing  from  the 
assemblyes  of  the  saints,  and  to  inquire  into  y^  truth  of  those 
scandalous  reports  that  we  heare  concerning  him.  It  was  desired 
also  that  brother  Bunyan  and  brother  Harrington  send  for  brother 
Merrill  and  admonish  him  concerning  his  withdrawing  from  the 
Church  and  his  conformity  to  y*  world's  way  of  worship.  And 
brother  Bunyan  and  brother  Cooper  were  appointed  to  go  to 
brother  Coventon  to  admonish,  him  and  endeavour  his  conviction 
for  his  sin  in  withdrawing  from  the  Church  assemblyes. 

"  1669.  Bedford,  the  14th  of  y«  3rd  moneth  [14th  June],  '69  : 
There  was  received  into  comunion  with  this  congregation  brother 


1G69.]  THE  CHURCH  IX  THE  STORM.  20j 

Joliu  Wileman  and  Nehemiah  Coxe,  aud  John  Spencer  was  desired 
to  waite  a  while  longer. 

"Bedford,  the  10th  day  of  y"  6th  monoth  [10th  Sept.].  It  was 
proposed  to  the  Church  to  consider  of  some  others  to  be  chosen  to 
the  office  of  deacons  for  tryall,  the  worke  lying  too  hard  on  hrttther 
John  ffenne.  It  was  fartlier  agreed  upon  b}'  the  Church  that  brother 
George  Skelton  should  be  againe  admonished  either  by  word  of 
mouth  or  by  letter  as  soone  as  possible  may  be :  for  liis  inliunuine 
carriage  towards  his  wife  and  children,  and  other  evills  which  he 
stands  guilty  of.  The  Church  also  having  taken  notice  of  tlie  utter 
neglect  of  brother  Coventon  and  brother  Wallia  in  the  executing  of 
the  office  of  a  deacon,  whereunto  they  had  formerly  bene  appointed, 
did  judge  them  unworthy  of  that  honourable  employment,  aud 
divest  them  of  all  authority  and  trust  of  that  nature  coulitted  to 
them  formerl}'. 

"  Bedford,  the  14th  of  the  7th  moneth  [1 1th  Oct.]  :  AVilliam 
Man  and  John  Crocker  gave  an  account  to  the  Church  of  their 
visiting  and  rec^uiring  Ilumphrey  MerriU,  Eichard  Deane,  and 
Edward  Coventon  to  come  to  their  Church  meeting,  whose  carriage 
was  as  foUoweth :  As  for  brother  Merrill,  tliough  tlieir  words  and 
carriaire  were  so  winning  and  full  of  bowells  tliat  he  could  not  well 
breake  out  into  that  imitatieucy  as  he  had  sometimes  done  ;  yet  after 
some  windings  he  began  in  an  obscure  way  to  charge  the  Church 
with  rebellion  and  also  with  taking  some  portions  of  Scripture  that 
made  for  their  purpose  and  refusing  the  other.  To  which  things, 
though  lie  was  fully  answered,  yet  to  their  last  entreaty  of  him  to 
come  before  the  Church  ho  perempt(jrily,  with  great  conlidi'uce, 
replyed  That  ho  know  them  well  enough  already  and  would  have  no 
more  to  do  with  tliem,  bidding  them  do  their  worst,  saying,  Their 
fuiro  speeches  should  not  flatter  him,  &c.  Kichard  Deane  seemed 
more  yielding:  Th«'so  things  consiilfrcd,  the  Cliurch  thought  good 
to  send  brothi-r  John  Bunyan  and  brotlier  Julin  Whiti man  onto 
more  to  admonish  them.  They  found  not  Kobert  "Wallis  at  home, 
nor  lt(»bert  Nelson,  therefore  brother  JUmyan  and  brother  John 
IFenno  were  again  appointed  to  aduKJuish  hnn. 

"  15i-dford,  y  lllh  of  the  Htli  moneth  :  Our  l)r(tliri'n  appointed  to 
go  t<j  brother  Covent<m,  related  tliat  they  had  done  llu'ir  message, 
but  ho  gave  them  no  answer ;  but  that  brother  Wallis  did  very 
ChriHtianly  receive  them,  acknowledging  his  owno  guilt  and  sin  in 
W'druwing,  &c.,  promising  in  tlie  strength  of  Christ  to  indeavour 
ref(jnnation  for  time  to  conie  ;  who  alfso  was  at  this  niec'ling  and 
gave  consent  to  thoehoosing  of  brother  Man  and  brother  Crocker  us 
deacons,  at  which  our  hearts  were  gladded. 


206  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ix. 

"  Bedford,  the  16th  of  the  9th  moneth  [16th  Dec]  :  The  brethren 
that  were  appointed  to  visit  those  under  admonition,  did  relate  their 
carriage  as  followeth  :  Brother  Coventon  is  through  mercy  hope- 
fully recovering  from  his  backsliding.  Eichard  Deane  did  acknow- 
ledge himself  not  sensible  as  yet,  but  desired  the  prayers  and 
patience  of  the  Church.  It  was  agreed  that  brother  Bunyan  and 
brother  Breeden  should  go  to  Humphrey  Merrill,  and  brother 
Bunyan  and  brother  Whiteman  to  Richard  Deane. 

"Bedford,  the  14th  of  the  10th  moneth  [14th  Jan.]:  It  was 
agreed  that  Humphi-ey  Merrill  (still  refusing  admonition)  should, 
the  next  Church  meeting,  be  cut  off  from  this  congregation  of  God 
if  repentance  prevent  not.  It  was  agreed  that  an  admonition  be  pre- 
pared to  be  sent  to  brother  William  Whitbread,  for  withdrawing  from 
the  Church  and  ordinances  of  God.  It  was  agreed  also  that  brother 
Bunyan  and  brother  Man  should  reason  with  Mr.  Sewster  about  his 
desire  of  breaking  bread  with  this  congregation  w^'^out  sitting  downe 
as  a  member  with  us.  Also  that  brother  Sam.  ffenne  and  brother 
Bunyan  should  discourse  with  Sister  Landy  about  those  scruples 
that  lye  upon  her  conscience  about  breaking  bread  with  this  congre- 
gation. The  congregation  also  having  taken  into  consideration  the 
desire  of  Gamlingay  friends  to  joyne  with  us,  did  agree  that  next 
meeting  they  should  come  over  and  give  in  their  experience. 

"At  a  full  assembly  of  this  Congregation,  the  21st  day  of  the 
10th  moneth  [21st  Jan.]  :  Humphrey  Merrill  was  cut  oil  from,  and 
cast  out  of  this  Church  of  Christ,  titor — 

"1.  Breaking  covenant  with  God  and  fellowship  with  this  con- 
gregation. 

"  2.  If  or  an  open  recanting  his  profession  at  a  General  Quarter 
Sessions. 

"  3.  And  rejecting  and  trampling  upon  the  admonitions  and 
iutreaties,  and  all  indeavours  of  the  Chiu'ch  to  recover  him  to 
amendment  of  life :  disdainefully  returning  for  their  care  and 
indeavours  to  reclaime  him  such  ungodly  railings  as  these :  That 
they  had  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  the  King  :  that  they  were  dis- 
obedient to  government,  and  that  they  were  not  a  Church  ;  despising 
also  the  gifts  of  and  doctrines  of  God  in  the  Congregation  :  together 
with  severall  other  false  and  heinous  accusations. 

"  Testified  by  these  brethren  : 


Joh.  Croker. 
Tho.  Cooper. 
Sam.  ffenne. 


Joh.  Banyan. 
WiU.  Man. 
Joh.  Whiteman. 
Will.  Breeden. 


1670-71]         TUE  ciruRcn  ix  tue  storm.  207 

"Received  at  the  same  time  these  brethren,  by  name:  Oliver 
Scott,  "NVm.  Scott,  Edward  Dent,  John  Thornely,  Ealph  Underhand, 
Luke  Astwood,  Nicholas  Malings,  Samuell  Smith,  James  Giddins. 
[The  brethren  from  Gamlingaj' referred  to  at  the  previous  meeting.] 

"  Bedford,  4th  of  the  1 1th  moneth  [Ith  Fob.]  :  There  was  received 
with  gladness  into  this  congregation  brother  Samuell  Ilcnecman, 
Joh.  Henceman,  and  Susannah  Cooper,  The  work  of  repentance 
pfoes  hopefully  on  in  brother  Coventon,  wlio  now  frequents  our 
meetings. 

"Bedford.  2.)th  day  of  tho  11th  moneth  [25th  Feb.],  l()G'.)-7(). 
Brother  Samuell  Ifenne  and  brother  Bunyan  declared  that  according 
to  the  Chm-ch's  desire  they  discoursed  with  Sister  Landy  and  found 
her  willing  to  receive  instruction,  and  therefore  were  apj)ointed 
againe  by  the  Church  as  occasion  served  to  endeavour  her  farther 
siitisfaction.  Our  brother  Bunyan  and  brother  Samuell  it'rnne  were 
ordered  to  write  to  y*"  adjacent  congregations  to  let  them  understand 
the  Churches  proceedings  against  Ilimiphrey  Merrill. 

"  1670.  Bedford,  the  25th  day  of  the  2nd  moneth  [25th  May]. 
Brother  John  ifenne  certifyed  the  Church  that  he  and  brother  Bun- 
yan had  indcavoured  to  speake  with  IJichard  Deane,  but  (he  con- 
tinually indeavouring  to  avoide  their  delivering  their  message  by 
keeping  out  of  the  way)  they  could  by  no  means  accomplish  it, 
whereupon  the  Church  did  agree  shortly  to  proceed  farther  willi 
him. 

"Bedford,  8th  day  of  the  3rd  moneth  [Hth  June].  Tho  Church 
appointed  brother  Samuell  fi'enne  and  brother  Buuyan  farther  to 
discourse  with  Sister  Landy  and  to  relate  to  them  in  what  frame 
tliey  find  her. 

"1(371.  Bedford,  the  21st  day  of  the  1st  moneth  [21st  April]. 
Kobert  Nelson  and  liichard  Deane  were  cut  off  from  and  cast  out 
of  this  Congregation.  Brother  Whiteman  and  brother  Neh.  Coxo 
were  ajipointed  to  declare  to  Rich.  Deane  tho  just  and  fearful  sen- 
tence that  in  tho  name  and  power  of  tho  Lord  Jesus  had  bene 
denounced  against  him.  As  for  Rob.  Nel.son  it  is  to  be  considered 
which  way  notice  may  bo  given  him  thereof  also,  because  for  the 
present  lie  cannot  bo  spoken  with.  It  was  agreed  also  that  an 
Epistle  should  be  sent  to  y"  churches  of  Christ  in  and  about  Key- 
showe,  Newport  Ragnell,  and  Steventon,  to  acipiaint  them  witli  th«* 
Churches  proceedings  in  tho  case  afore  mentioned.  Tlie  copy  of 
the  letter  sent  to  ea<rh  of  tlii'in  hero  followeth  :  I)<'arlv  beloved 
br(!thren  :  (Jraco  be  with  y<»u  liy  .lesus  Christ  your  Lord  and  oures. 
Amen.  ]{le.s«e<l  be  God  and  the  lluther  of  our  liord  Jesus  Christ 
fi^r  tho  gruco  bestowed  upon  you,  brethren,  and  lor  tlie  taiili  \im 


208  JOHN  B  VNYAK  [chap.  ix. 

have  in  the  Lord  Jesus  and  yoiir  love  to  all  the  Saints.  We,  yonr 
brethren,  the  Congregation  of  Christ  in  and  about  Bedford,  give 
you  to  understand  what  troubles  have  come  ujDon  us  by  reason  of 
Robert  Nelson  and  Richard  Deane,  persons  sometimes  members 
of  this  congregation,  but  now  cut  off  and  cast  out  from  the  Church  of 
God  for  these  wickednesses  following : 

"  Things  laide  to  y®  charge  of  Richard  Deane  : — 

"1.  ffor  that  he  after  a  very  ungodly  manner  separated  himself 
from  this  congregation  and  the  word  and  ordinances  of  Christ 
therein. 

"2.  He  after  this  lived  a  loose  and  ungodly  life  accompany ed 
with  defrauding  in  his  calling ;  selling  to  severall  persons  deceitf uU 
goodes,  to  the  great  scandall  of  our  profession. 

"  3.  ffor  speaking  contemptuously  of  the  Church. 

"  4.  He  went  in  the  name  of  the  Church,  particularly  naming 
Joh.  Bunyan  and  Sam.  ffenne,  and  yet  wholly  without  their  know- 
ledge or  consent,  to  beg  the  charity  of  y*^  good  people  of  St.  Neots  ; 
ffor  all  which  things,  and  many  others,  he  hath  bene  admonished, 
by  the  space  of  some  years ;  yet  could  not  be  brought  to  repentance 
for  the  same. 

"  Robert  Nelson's  practises  were  as  followeth : — 

"1.  He  forsooke  the  Church  with  the  order  of  the  Grospell  therein. 

"  2.  In  a  great  assembly  of  the  Church  of  England,  he  was  openly 
and  profanely  bishopt  after  the  Anti christian  order  of  that  Genera- 
tii\ ;  to  y^  great  profanation  of  God's  order  and  heartbreaking  of 
his  Christian  brethren. 

"ffor  these  he  hath  bene  often  admonished,  and  that  for  the 
space  of  sixe  or  seven  yeares,  but  hath  contemned  and  slighted  the 
same.  And  besides  he  hath  so  trampled  upon  our  holy  order  and 
fellowship,  that  for  the  space  of  eight  or  nine  yeares,  he  covdd  not 
be  gotten  to  be  present  at  any  of  our  Church  Assemblyes. 

"  Wherefore  we  warne  and  beseech  you  in  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  as  occasion  or  opportunity  offereth  itself  you 
carry  it  towards  them  in  all  things,  as  becometh  a  people  that  keep 
faithf ull  with  the  Lord. 

"  Written  by  the  appointment  of  the  congregation,  and  on  their 
behalf  signed  by : 


"  Sam.  ffenne. 
Joh.  Bunyan. 


Joh.  Whiteman. 
Joh.  ffenne." 


If  however  there  were  thus  in  the  little  Bedford  community 
those  who,  after  running  well,  had  been  hindered  and  caused 
pain  and  heartbreak  to  their   Christian  brethren,   there  were 


1669.]  TUE  CnURCE  IN  THE  STOIiJr.  209 

others,  as  the  following  entries  show,  whose  consistency  and 
steadfastness  were  cause  for  gratitude. 

"  In  the  latter  part  of  the  yeare  1669  our  brother  TTarringtou 
being  driven  from  his  family  to  avoydo  being  taken  Avitli  a  writ  Be 
Exciim.  capictid.,  and  otlier  friends  having  of  long  time  had  their 
habitation  at  a  distance  from  us,  the  Congregation  did  appoint  the 
Elders  in  their  names  to  write  certaine  letters  to  them  for  their  com- 
fort and  edification,  the  copyes  of  some  of  them  (which  were  sent 
with  y*  Churches  fidl  approbation)  being  now  come  to  hand  are 
here  inserted. 

"To  our  brother  Harrington  was  sent  this  following"  [from 
which,  as  being  evidently  from  Bunyan's  hand,  some  extracts  may 
here  be  given]  : — 

"Dearly  beloved  brother,  Grace,  mercy,  and  peace  be  with  you 
nlwayes.  With  length  of  dayes  is  understanding;  your  long  pro- 
gresse  in  the  wayes  of  God  and  our  ffather,  hath  given  you  rich 
experience.  Wlierefore,  brother,  make  it  manifest  that  you  are 
one  of  those  scribes  we  read  of,  not  only  instructed  into  but  unto 
the  Kingdome  of  God.  Gravity  becometh  the  ancients  of  the  Ilouse 
of  God  :  ffathers  should  be  examples  unto  children.  We  are  com- 
forted in  the  remembrance  of  thee,  brother,  while  we  consider  that, 
notwithstanding  thy  naturall  infirmity,  yet  thou  prizest  good  con- 
science above  thine  owne  injoyments  :  and  since  thou  couldost  not 
with  quiet  injoy  it  at  home,  thou  hast  left  thy  concornes  in  this 
world  (tliougli  in  much  luizzard  and  danger)  that  thou  mayest  keep 
it  abroad.  But  remember  that  good  word  of  God  :  no  man  sliall 
desire  thy  Land  when  thou  shalt  go  up  to  appeare  before  the  Lord 
thy  God,  thrice  in  y*  yeare.  Wlierefore  lot  neither  the  remembrance 
of  what  tliou  hast  left,  nor  thouglit  of  its  being  subject  to  casualty 
either  distract  thee  in  thy  coriiunion  with  God,  or  prevailo  with  thoe 
to  do  uught  against  good  c<mscience,  or  unworthy  thy  gray  haires  ; 
whirh  are  then  the  glory  of  old  men  when  found  in  the  way  of 
rightoousnos. 

"  You,  brother  Harrington,  have  lived  to  see  the  slippery  and 
unstable  nature  that  is  in  earthly  things;  wlnn-efcjre  wo  beseech 
you  to  cxijcrt  no  more  thert'from,  then  the  word  of  God  hath 
promihed,  which  is  as  much  in  little  as  in  much  thereof,  if  not  more 
in  many  respects.  While  Israeli  sate  by  tlio  lleshpots  in  Kj^ypt 
they  had  no  manna  from  lieavon,  they  draiike  not  the  water  out  of 
the  Kock.  We  hope  it  in  because  God  loveth  you  that  he  hath 
driven  you  frrun  your  inrMimbrancns,  that  you  may  have*  occasion 
before  you  dye  to  solace  yourself  with  your  God  and  the  Lord  Jesus 


210  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ix. 

Christ.  We  meane  that  you  may  doe  it  with  more  leisure  and  lesse 
distraction  then  when  y^  lowing  of  the  oxen  had  continuall  sound 
in  your  eares. 

"  God  is  wise,  and  doth  all  things  for  the  best  for  them  that  love 
him.  You  know  not  but  you  shall  know  afterwards  what  sins  and 
temptations  God  hath  prevented  by  driving  you  thus  from  your 
habitation,  and  how  hereby  he  made  way  for  the  exercise  of  some 
graces  that  could  not  so  weU  discover  themselves  in  their  virtues 
when  you  was  here.  How  subject  we  are  to  dote  upon  and  to  be 
intangled  with  the  snares  that  lye  couched  and  hid  in  the  things 
of  this  present  world,  you  have  had  great  experience  with  us. 
When  we  are  desolate  then  we  trust  in  God,  and  make  prayers  and 
supplications  to  him  night  and  day.  God  help  you,  therefore,  that 
you  spend  your  vacant  houres  not  as  they  that  wept  for  Tammuz, 
but  as  they  who  plainely  confesse  to  all  they  are  strangers  and  pil- 
grims in  the  earth.  Arm  yourself  with  y'  mind  you  read  of,  Heb. 
xii.  2,  3,  4,  that  you  may  have  your  garments  alwayes  white,  and 
that  your  head  may  lack  no  oyntment.  You  cannot  be  there  where 
no  eyes  are  upon  you.  You  are  a  spectacle  to  God,  Angells,  and 
Men ;  and  being  exalted  to  y**  profession  of  Christianity,  and  also  to 
the  comunion  of  God  and  his  saintes,  you  can  neither  stand  nor 
fall  by  yourself,  but  the  name  and  cause  and  people  of  God  shall  in 
some  sense  stand  and  fall  with  you.  Yea,  let  us  have  joy  in  thee, 
brother,  refresh  our  spirits  in  the  Lord.  And  remember  that  God 
hath  saide,  Though  there  were  of  you  cast  out  to  the  uttermost  part 
of  heaven,  yet  will  I  gather  them  from  thence,  and  will  bring  them 
unto  the  place  that  I  have  chosen  to  set  my  name  there. 

"  thnally,  brother,  fParewell.     Grace  be  with  thee.     Amen. 

"Written  by  the  appointment  of  y^  Congregation  to  which  you 
stand  related  in  y^  faith  of  the  Gospell,  and  subscribed  with  their 
consent  by  the  hands  of  your  brethren. 

"John  Whiteman.  Samuell  ffenne. 

John  Bunyan.  Joh.  ffenne,  &c." 

The  next  letter,  "  To  our  deare  Sister  Foxe,"  is  not  signed 
by  Bunyan,  and  has  nothing  in  it  of  his  peculiar  vein.  The 
two  following  letters  have  his  signature  appended,  and  were 
evidently  written  by  him.  The  first  of  these  is  "  To  our  beloved 
Sister  Katharine  Hustwhat."  After  the  usual  greeting  they 
go  on  to  say  : — 

"  Wo  heare  (to  our  increase  of  joy)  how  our  God  supporteth  thee 
in  all  temptations,  and  spirituall  desertions,  thou  meetest  with  in 


1669.]  THE  CUURCE  IN  THE  STOnM.  211 

y*  world.  The  poor  and  afflicted  people  God  will  save.  To  be  dis- 
tressed and  tempted  while  here  is  a  manifestation  of  our  predes- 
tination to  the  ease  and  peace  of  another  world.  Predestinated  to 
be  conformable,  or  (as  in  y"*  old  ti'auslations)  predestinate  that  we 
should  be  like  fashioned  unto  the  shajie  of  his  Son,  a  great  part  of 
which  lyeth  in  our  being  distressed,  tempted,  afflicted  as  he.  And 
therefore  it  is,  when  he  was  departing  hence  to  the  ffather,  that  he, 
as  it  were,  looked  back  as  over  his  shoulder  to  such,  saying,  You 
are  they  that  have  continued  with  me  in  my  temptations  ;  unto  you 
I  appoint  a  Kingdome,  as  my  ffather  hath  appointed  unto  mee. 

"  Sister,  thy  keeping  lowe  and  being  emptied  from  vessell  to 
vessel],  is  that  thou  mightest  be  kept  sweet  and  more  cleane  in  thy 
soule  than  thou  wouldest  or  couldest  otherwise  be.  The  first  wayes 
of  David  were  his  best,  and  yet  those  wayes  were  most  accompanyed 
with  affliction. 

"They  that  are  naked  and  lodge  without  clothing,  that  have  no 
covering  in  the  cold,  and  that  are  wet  with  the  showres  of  the 
mountaines,  these  imbrace  the  Rock  for  want  of  a  shelter.  As  out- 
ward distresses  make  us  prize  outward  blessings,  so  temptations 
and  affliction  of  soule  make  us  prize  Jesus  Christ.  lie  sufltereth  us 
to  hunger  and  to  wander  in  a  bewildered  condition,  that  we  may 
tast  and  relish  the  words  of  God,  and  not  live  by  broad  alone. 
Temptations  alwa3's  provoke  to  spirituall  appetite,  and  are  therefore 
very  necessary  for  us,  yea,  as  needfull  as  worke  and  labour  to  the 
body,  without  which  it  would  be  overrun  with  diseases  and  unfit  for 
any  im[)luyment.  Tliorefore,  our  beloved  Sister,  stirro  up  the  grace 
of  God  that  is  in  thee,  and  lay  hold  by  faith  on  eternall  life ;  and 
count  when  thou  art  tempted  much,  yet  the  end  of  that  temptation 
will  come,  the  end  and  then  effect.  And  remember  that  even  our 
dearest  ImtH  could  not  broake  oflf  the  tempter  in  y'  middle.  But 
when  Sathan  had  ended  all  the  temptation,  then  he  departed  from 
liim  for  a  season. 

"  That  Gospell  which  thou  hast  received  is  no  cunningly  devised 
fable,  but  the  very  truth  and  verity  of  God.  AVherofore  bo  not 
shaken  in  minde,  or  troubhid  with  unbelief  or  Atheismo.  Ijooke  to 
tlie  i)roniise,  lo<jko  to  Jesus,  looke  to  his  bhxtd,  aiul  w  hat  work  it 
hath  with  the  justice  of  God  for  sinners. 

"  Lastly,  sister,  ffarewell.  AVatch  and  be  sober  ;  have  patience  to 
the  Coming  of  the  Lord.  And  in  the  meano  while  looke  to  thy  lamj). 
The  Lord  pouro  of  his  golden  oylo  into  it,  and  also  into  the  vesHcll 
of  thy  soule.  Keepo  thy  worke  before  thee,  and  be  renewed  in  the 
spirit  of  thy  minde.  I'jes.'^fjd  are  those  bervauts  whom  the  Jiord 
when  ho  comoth  shall  iiud  hu  doing. 

\'2 


212  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ix. 

"Written  by  the  appointment  of  this  congregation,  and  sub- 
Bcribed  by  their  consent  by  your  dear  brethren,  who  pray  for  you 
and  intreat  prayers  for  this  despised  handfull  of  the  Lord's 
heritage. 

"  John  Whiteman. 
John  Btjnyan. 
Will.  Man,  &c." 

The  last  of  the  letters  to  the  persecuted,  preserved  in  the 
Church  Book,  was  sent  to  John  Wilson,  afterwards  the  first 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Hitchin.      It  is  addressed  : — 

"To  our  dear  brother  Joh.  Wilson  :  We  are  comforted  in  thee, 
our  dearely  beloved,  when  we  remember  that  from  a  childe  thou 
hast  knowne  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  in  thy  tender  yeares  thy 
faith  was  fruitfull,  to  the  great  comfort  of  us  thy  brethren.  It  is 
also  joy  to  us  to  behold,  that  notwithstanding  thy  lot  is  cast  in  a 
place  of  high  transgression,  yet  thou  showest  out  of  a  good  conver- 
sation thy  works  with  meekness  of  wisdome.  God  help  thee, 
brother,  to  remember  the  dayes  of  thy  youth ;  the  first  wayes  of 
David  were  best.  There  are  but  few  can  say  as  Caleb  :  As  my 
strength  was  forty  yeares  since  so  it  is  now,  both  to  go  out  and 
come  in  before  the  people  of  God.  'Tis  also  saide  of  Moses,  to  y*^  day 
of  his  death  his  naturall  force  was  not  abated,  neither  did  his  eye 
waxe  dimme. 

"Brother,  be  alwayes  looking  into  the  perfect  Lawe  of  liberty 
and  continue  therein.  The  customes  of  the  people  are  vaine  ;  learne 
therefore  of  no  man  any  of  the  deeds  of  darkenes.  We  must  give 
an  account  of  ourselves  to  God.  It  argueth  not  onely  wisdome  but 
great  grace  when  the  soul  makes  aU  lye  levell  to  the  word  and 
•Spirit  of  God ;  when  he  scorneth  and  counteth  that  unworthy  of  his 
affections  that  hath  not  on  it  a  stamp  of  the  things  of  heaven.  It 
is  saide  of  the  children,  especially  the  Elders  of  Israeli,  They  saw 
God  and  did  eat  and  drinke  ;  that's  the  right  eating  and  drinking 
indeed. 

"  Honoured  brother,  God  hath  not  onely  counted  you  worthy  to 
believe  in  his  Son,  but  also  to  professe  him  before  y^  world  ;  weare 
his  name  in  your  forehead.  They  that  Christ  will  owne  for  his 
Servants  for  ever,  must  say  plainely,  I  love  my  Master;  they  must 
declare  plainely  they  seek  a  country. 

"  'Tis  saide  of  Hananiah  he  feared  God  above  many.  God  con- 
tinue our  joy  of  thee,  brother,  our  hope  of  thee  is  stedfast  through 
grace.     It  is  a  strange  sight  to  behold  those  who  did  feed  delicately 


1669.]  THE  CHURCH  IN  TEE  STORM.  213 

to  be  desolate  in  tlie  street,  and  they  that  were  brought  up  in  scarlet 
to  imbraoe  dunghills.  "Wo  speake  not  these  things  to  shanio  thee, 
but  as  our  beloved  brother  wo  warne  thee.  0  Timothy,  keep  that 
which  is  committed  to  thy  trust ;  watch  and  be  sober.  And  if  thou 
incline  to  sleep,  let  that  of  Delilah  rouze  thee :  the  Phdistinea  be 
upon  thee,  Sampson. 

"  Grace  be  with  thee.     The  Lord  is  at  hand.     Behold,  the  judge 
stands  at  the  doore  ;  Amen.     Even  so  come,  Lord  Jesus. 

"Written  by  the  appointment  and  subscribed  in  y«  name  and 
with  the  Consent  of  the  Congregation,  by 

"  Your  brethren  in  the  faith  and  patience  of  Christ,  who  also 
begge  3'our  prayei*s  for  this  despised  Congregation. 

"  Sam.  ffexx.     Joii.  Wuitemax,     Joh.  Buxyan. 
JoH.  FFEXX.     Jon.  Ceoker.  Well.  Man,  &c." 


These  letters,  it  will  be  remembered,  were  sent  durino^  the 
comparative  lull  in  the  storm  which  took  place  between  the  ex- 
piration of  the  Conventicle  Act  on  the  2nd  of  March,  1668,  and 
its  re-enactment  on  the  11th  of  April,  1670.  From  the  fact  that 
letters  were  sent  to  those  who  had  to  flee  from  their  homes,  it 
will  be  evident  that  persecution  continued  all  through  the  time 
the  Act  was  in  suspense.  This  is  borne  out  by  local  evidence 
of  the  most  indisputable  kind,  that  of  the  "  Act-Books  "  of 
the  Archdeacon's  Court.  The  record  of  the  proceedings  of 
Dr.  Foster  as  Commissary  of  that  Court  during  the  entire 
period  the  Conventicle  Act  was  in  force  appears  to  have  been  lost 
from  the  Registry  of  the  Archdeaconry.  But,  curiously  enough, 
the  minutes  of  proceedings  relating  to  the  very  seventeen 
months  when  Parliament  was  not  sitting,  and  when  there  was 
an  abatement  of  the  fury  of  the  persecution,  have  been  pri;- 
served,  and  show  how  little  abatement  there  really  was.  Foster 
held  eight  Courts  at  the  Visitations  of  tho  Archdcaccui 
between  May  6tb,  1068,  and  October  8th,  166!) — four  at  Bed- 
ford and  four  at  Amptliill.  Several  of  the  cases  that  camo 
before  him  related,  of  course,  to  tho  condition  of  the  churches 
through  tho  difi'erent  deaneries  of  the  county.  At  Pulloxhill, 
for  example,  it  appears  that  the  "  Steeple  is  fallen  down  and 
the  Vicarage  hous(;  j)ul!cd  down;"  Slagsdcn  chancel  windows 
"  want  glasseing,"  and  "  Stevington  (Jliancell  is  almost  dowiic." 
So  is  the  steeple  ut  Arlsey,  where  they  also  want  u  vicar,  Irom 


214  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ix. 

whicli  we  may  conclude  that  good  old  Mr.  Ashurst  has  by  this 
time  gone  to  heaven.  At  Studham  there  is  "  neither  surplice, 
communion  cup,  nor  cushion  for  the  pulpitt ; "  at  Maulden 
they  want  "a  Church  Bible  and  a  book  of  Homilyes;"  at 
Farndish  almost  everything — "  the  Bible  translated  in  King 
James  his  raigne,  A  hearse  cloth,  a  book  of  homilies,  a  poore 
man's  Box,  a  sufficient  chest  with  Lock  and  Keyes  for  the 
Church  Ornaments,  and  a  Terriar  of  the  Gleab  Lands." 
Foster,  therefore,  at  these  Courts  of  his  found  work  for  the 
trowel  as  well  as  the  sword.  But  the  work  of  upbuilding  was 
small  in  comparison  with  that  of  smiting  down.  The  vast 
majority  of  the  cases  he  dealt  with,  according  to  his  own  record, 
were  those  of  Nonconformists,  whom  he  fined,  excommunicated, 
or  imprisoned  for  refusing  to  pay  church  rates,  dues,  or  tithes ; 
for  refusing  to  come  to  church  for  more  than  a  month  ;  for  not 
having  their  children  baptized ;  for  being  present  at  the 
buryall  of  an  excommunicate  person ;  for  being  at  and  keeping 
a  conventicle ;  for  refusing  to  receive  the  sacrament  at  Easter  ; 
for  not  being  churched  ;  for  being  absent  from  church  six 
months ;  for  teaching  school  without  licence ;  and  for  stand- 
ing excommunicate  above  forty  days  last  past. 

There  were  two  or  three  special  cases.  John  White,  the 
undergaoler  at  Bedford,  was  presented  for  refusing  to  pay  the 
church  rate.  He  was  at  this  time  one  of  Bunyan's  custodians, 
and  may  have  been  in  some  things  of  the  same  mind  with  his 
prisoner.  If  so,  he  lacked  the  constancy  his  prisoner  showed, 
for  he  afterwards  went  to  John  Bradshaw  at  the  Registry,  and 
paid  the  rate.  Henry  Thurrowgood  of  Northill,  was  dealt 
with  for  burying  his  mother  in  a  garden.  Thomas  Hawkins, 
of  Dunstable,  and  Mary  Herbert,  for  that  they,  "under  pretence 
of  a  marriage  after  a  phanatique  manner,  live  together;" 
which  means  that  they  thought  it  sufficient  to  celebrate  their 
marriage  at  the  Quaker's  Meeting.  At  Studham,  George  Seer, 
innholder,  had  been  guilty  of  "  keeping  Conventicles  on  y* 
Lord's  day,  as  the  fame  is ; "  so  that  for  once  the  village  inn 
was  turned  into  the  village  place  of  prayer.  But  the  great 
majority  of  the  cases  were  those  of  persons  refusing  to  come  to 
church,  or  to  pay  rates,  dues,  or  tithes. 

Some    idea  may  be    formed    of  the   vast    amount   of  work 


1669.]  777"^  CHURCH  IN  THE  STORM.  215 

Foster  had  to  get  through  when  we  find  that,   during  those 
two    years,    which    were    years    of    comparative    exemption, 
more  than  fourteen  hundred  cases  came  before  him  for  judg- 
ment from    the   towns,  but  chiefly  from  the   villages  of  Bed- 
fordshire.    This    includes    great   numbers    of    renewed    cases 
of  prosecution,  as,  for  example,  those  of  stout-hearted  Quakers 
like  Joshua  "Wheeler  and  Edward  Frankly n   of  Cranfield,  the 
Albrights  and  Colemans  of  AYooburne,  the  Laundrys  of  Boln- 
hurst,  and  the  Rushes  of  Kempston,  who  were  prosecuted  at 
every  one  of  the  four  Courts  held  for  their  respective  deaneries. 
From  all  parts  of  the  county,  indeed,  the  most  numerous  and  most 
persistent  offenders  were  the  Quakers,  but  there  were  also  great 
numbers  of  Baptists  and  Independents,  and  a  few  Presbyterians. 
More  than  once  we  find  the  name  of  Lawrence  Bunion,  joiner, 
of  "Westoning,  possibly  a  kinsman  of  the  greater  Bunyan  then 
in  Bedford  gaol ;  and  again  and  again  there  appear  for  judg- 
ment well-known  members  of  the  Bedford  church.     The  cul- 
prits who,  in  such  continuous  stream,  wore  brought  under  the 
penalties  of  Foster's  Court  in  1668  and  166'J,  were  from  various 
grades  of  life.     Some  six  or  eight  of  them  are  styled  esquire, 
from  twenty  to  thirty,  gentlemen,  perhaps  twenty  are  described 
as  yeomen,  and  about  as  many  more  as  farmers ;  but,  as  in  all 
the  persecutions  which  have  fallen  upon  the  Church  of  Christ 
through  the  ages,  the  vast  majority  were  drawn  from  the  ranks 
of   artisans   and   the   labouring  poor.     They  were   the    great 
undistinguished  crowd  of  cordwainers,  hcmpdressers,  husband- 
men,   weavers,    warreners,    plow-wrights,    gardeners,    fellmen, 
fullers,  and  the  like.     In  deanery  after  deanery,  and  from  vil- 
lage after  village  in  Bedfordshire,  their  names  stand  recorded 
in  the  fading  pages  of  Foster's  "  Act-Book,"  with  his  judgment 
and   penalties    written    against  them.     But   they  make  their 
appeal  from  his  judgment  to  that  of  other  tribunals — the  tri- 
bunal of  posterity  and  the  tribunal  of  God,  and  they  have  not 
made  their  appeal  ifi  vain. 

Dark  and  evil  as  liad  been  the  days  from  1660  to  the  autumn 
of  l'J6I>,  still  darker  and  more  evil  days  were  preparing.  Arch- 
bishop Sheldon  had  resolved  that  Nonconfurmily  might  bo 
entirely  uprooted  and  should  be.  He  was  convinced  that  its 
extent  was  greatly  exaggerated,  and  that  vigorously  taken  in 


216  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ix. 

hand  it  miglit  soon  be  overcome.  With  intent  to  show  this, 
and  as  the  basis  of  future  legislation,  on  the  8th  of  June  he 
had  written  from  Lambeth  to  the  Commissary  of  the  province 
of  Canterbury,  directing  that  inquiries  should  be  made  from  the 
clergy  in  every  parish  as  to  all  unlawful  religious  assemblies, 
what  were  the  numbers  attending  them,  of  what  sort  of  people 
thev  consisted,  and  who  were  their  leaders  and  teachers?  The  re- 
turns  are  preserved  among  the  "Tenison  MSS."  at  Lambeth,  and 
are  of  considerable  local  interest.  They  are,  of  course,  the  returns 
of  the  enemies  of  Nonconformity,  and  contain  inaccuracies, 
therefore,  but  are  no  doubt  approximately  true.  Those  for 
Bedfordshire  are  found  among  the  papers  relating  to  Lincoln 
Diocese.*  They  state  that  there  is  one  Conventicle  at  Bedford, 
in  the  parish  of  St.  Paul — number  in  attendance  about  30  ; 
quality,  the  meanest  sort ;  Heads  and  Teachers — "John  Fenne, 
hatter  ;  Thomas  Honylove,  cobbler ;  Samuel  Fenne,  hatter  ;  and 
Thomas  Cooper,  heelemaker.  The  said  Samuel  Fenne  and 
Thomas  Cooper  being  lately  apprehended  at  a  Conventicle  by  a 
warrant  from  William  Foster,  Esq.,  one  of  his  Majesty's  Justices, 
and  by  him  and  John  Gardener,  Esq.,  one  other  Justice  of  the 
Peace,  committed  to  gaol  for  six  months,  where  they  now 
remaine." 

The  next  entry  of  interest  is  that  relating  to  Bolnhurst, 
where  there  are  two  Conventicles  reported,  one  for  the  Inde- 
pendents and  one  for  the  Quakers.  The  number  attending 
at  the  former  place  is  given  at  about  80  ;  their  quality  "  of 
meane  condicion  ;"  Head  and  Teacher — "  John  Donne,  ejected 
out  of  the  Rectory  of  Pertenhall.  Upon  the  King's  return  he 
was  apprehended  teaching  att  a  Conventicle  by  William  Foster, 
Esq.,  J. P.,  and  committed  to  the  Gaol  att  Bedford  where  he  should 
still  remaine,  have  received  his  tryall  upon  the  statute  for 
Banishment  of  Conventiclers  and  convicted  thereof.  He  usually 
preaches  at  his  House  at  Keysoe."  The  number  attending  the 
Quaker  Conventicle  is  not  given,  but  their  teachers  are  :  "John 
Croot  of  Eversholt  [probably  John  Crook],  Richard  Laundy, 
senr.,  a  prisoner  in  Bedford  Gaol  upon  a  write  De  Excom.  He 
is  commonly  att  home  and  they  doe  preach  att  his  house."  The 
Independents,  with  the  Quakers  at  Keysoe,  are  numbered  at 

•  Tennison  MSS.,  639.     Acct.  of  Conventicles,  1669,  Co.  Bedford. 


1669-70.]  TEE  CHURCH  IN  THE  STOnJf.  217 

100;  quality,  "the  meanest,"  but  their  preachers  numerous. 
There  is  a  Presbyterian  as  well  as  a  Quaker  Con<i;re^ation 
reported  from  AVoburn,  but  the  numbers  are  "  not  kuowne," 
and  a  Society  of  "  Freewillers  "  at  Sundon,  numbering  40. 
There  were  40  Baptists  at  Pavenham,  50  at  Stevington,  50  at 
Blunham,  20  at  Edworth,  12  at  Northill,  40  at  Caddington, 
and  30  at  Houghton  Regis.  The  Quakers  altogether  are 
returned  at  390  ;  the  Baptists  at  277  ;  and  the  Independents  at 
220,  but  the  numbers  in  several  villages  besides  are  given  as 
unknown  or  uncertain.  The  whole  of  the  Nonconformists  of 
the  county  are  reported  at  about  a  thousand ;  which,  after  nine 
years  of  determined  persecution  and  in  a  sparsely  populated 
shire,  was  a  reniarkable  result  to  have  attained,  and  says  much 
for  the  vitality  of  their  convictions. 

The  Cavalier  Parliament  met  again  for  its  eighth  Session, 
on  October  the  19th,  1669,  and  sat  for  only  two  months.  But 
in  those  two  months  it  fell  again  with  fury  upon  the  Noncon- 
formists after  their  seventeen  months'  breathing  time.  Numerous 
informations  and  complaints  were  laid  before  the  two  Ilouses  as 
to  evasions  of  the  Conformity  Acts,  and  the  increase  of  Conven- 
ticles and  wooden  "  tabernacles  "  in  London  and  elsewhere, 
and  a  Bill  was  again  brought  in  for  renewing  the  Conventicle 
Act.  As  Parliament  was  prorogued,  however,  on  the  11th  of 
December,  there  was  no  time  to  carry  this  Bill,  which  was 
deferred  till  the  following  Session. 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1070,  the  King  gave  his  assent  to  the 
Neic  Conventicles  Act.  It  was  more  severe  than  the  Act  of  1664. 
Marvell  calls  it  the  "  quintessence  of  arbitrary  malice."  It 
defined  an  Illegal  Conventicle  to  bo  any  meeting  for  worship 
otherwise  than  according  to  the  practice  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land which,  if  held  in  a  house,  should  have  present  thereat 
more  than  four  persons  beside  the  family  ;  or  if  in  the  fields  or 
any  uninhabited  place,  more  than  four  jjcrsons  in  all.  The  ])enalty 
for  the  first  offence  of  attending  a  Conventicle  was  five  shillings, 
and  for  the  second,  ten  shillings,  for  all  persons  over  sixteen 
years  of  age  ;  wliile  the  penalty  for  tluf  ])reacher  was  to  be  .i"20 
for  tlie  lir.it  olfcuce,  and  .£10  for  every  other ;  househohk'rs 
allowing  such  convunticles  to  be  held  on  tlieir  premises  were  to 
i'urfeit  XJO  for  each  oileucu.    To  lacilitutu  discovery  uud  couvic- 


218  JOSN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  ix. 

tion  one-tliird  of  tlie  fine  in  every  case  was  to  go  to  the  informer 
and  his  assistants.  At  every  point  the  Act  was  made  to  breathe 
the  resolute  spirit  of  those  who  passed  it  into  law.  Justices  of 
the  Peace  and  constables  were  empowered  to  break  open  doors 
in  carrying  out  its  provisions,  and  Lieutenants  and  Deputy- 
lieutenants  of  Counties  were  to  disperse  assemblies  with  horse 
and  foot,  if  necessary,  and  in  any  case  of  doubt,  the  Act  was 
always  to  be  interpreted  in  the  way  most  favourable  to  the 
suppression  of  Conventicles. 

This  resolute  spirit  of  oppression  was  met,  as  is  usual  in  the 
case  of  Englishmen,  with  an  equally  resolute  spirit  of  resistance. 
The  Act  was  passed  on  the  11th  of  April  and,  within  a  month, 
had  come  into  active  operation  in  the  town  of  Bedford.  "  On 
Lord's  day  {May  15)  at  the  dwelling-house  of  one  John  Fen, 
a  haberdasher  of  Hatts,  many  persons  being  assembled  for 
Religious  Exercise  :  One  West  and  Fecknam  (two  apparitors), 
by  a  warrant  from  one  Mr.  Foster,  who  is  a  Justice  of  Peace 
and  the  Commissaries'  Deputy,  did  enter  the  House  and  force 
the  Meeters  to  Mr.  Foster's  House,  who  fined  every  one  of  them 
severally  according  to  their  reputed  abilities,  and  committed 
the  Preacher  to  Prison."*  The  following  Friday,  Thomas  Bat- 
tison,  a  Churchwarden  of  St.  Paul's,  proceeded  to  levy  the  fines 
thus  inflicted,  beginning  at  the  malt-house  of  John  Bardolf. 
But  John  had  been  a  little  beforehand  with  the  churchwarden 
and  had  sold  his  malt.  The  question  arose,  therefore,  as  the  malt 
was  no  longer  Bardolf 's,  whether  it  was  legal  to  break  open  the 
malt-hovise  door  ?  While  Battison  and  the  other  ofiicers  were 
debating  this  point  in  the  open  yard,  "  a  great  number  of  all 
sorts  of  persons  were  gathered  about  them,  expressing  (by 
turns)  their  indignation  against  him  for  attempting  this  against 
Bardolf,  whom  the  whole  Town  knew  to  be  a  just  and  harmless 
man  ;  and  the  common  sort  of  people  covertly  fixing  a  Calves 
tayl  to  Battison's  back,  and  deriding  him  with  shouts  and 
hollows,  he  departed  without  taking  any  distress  there."  This 
was  not  a  good  beginning  ;  and,  somewhat  discomfited,  the  party 
made  their  way  to  the  shop  of  Edward  Covington,  a  grocer,  to 
levy  a  fine  of  five  shillings  for  his  wife  being  at  the  meeting. 
Covington  refusing  to  pay,  Battison  took  a  brass  kettle  for  the 
*  For  tlie  source  of  this  and  foUowing  extracts,  see  p.  222. 


1670.]  THE  cnuRCn  IN  tee  stor^l  219 

fine,  but  when  ho  had  brought  it  to  the  street-door,  the  ofRcers, 
probably  afraid  of  the  chaff  of  the  crowd,  refused  to  carry  it 
away,  and  at  last  he  had  to  pay  a  boy  sixpence  to  carry  it  to  an 
inn-yard  ;  "  but  when  the  youth  had  carried  the  Kettle  to  the 
Inn -gate  (being  hooted  at  all  the  way  by  the  common  spectators), 
the  Innkeeper  would  not  suffer  the  Kettle  to  be  brought  into 
his  yard,  and  so  his  man  set  it  out  in  the  middle  of  the  Street." 

"  The  next  day,  which  was  the  market-day,  the  Justices 
understanding  how  Battison  was  discouraged  in  his  work,"  and 
probably  feeling  that  this  brass-kettle  affair  was  not  a  very 
dignified  proceeding,  "  commanded  the  officers  to  break  open 
the  doors  and  levy  the  distresses.  Immediately  old  Battison, 
with  a  file  of  soldiers  and  the  constables,  in  the  middle  of 
Market-time,  advanced  again  to  the  malt-house  of  r/o//«  Bardolfe 
(scituate  in  an  Inn-yard  in  the  middle  of  the  Market-place)  and 
breaks  open  the  doors  and  distreyned  fourteen  Quarters  of 
Malt." 

Still  the  brethren  met  for  worship  as  usual  next  Sunday 
morning,  as  if  nothing  had  happened  : — 

"  The  next  day  being  Lord's  day,  Fines  were  doubled  upon  the 
Meeters,  before  the  first  could  be  levied ;  for  they  assembling  again 
at  the  same  House,  according  to  their  custom,  Battison  with  the  two 
Apparitors,  by  another  Warrant  from  Mr.  Foster,  entered  the 
Meoting-place  about  nine  of  the  clock  in  the  morning  :  but  the 
Meeters  ri-f  using  to  depart  before  their  Exercise  was  ended  (unless 
forced)  Battison  sends  word  of  it  to  Mr.  J-'o.stcr,  who  returns  a  Verbal 
Order  that  Battison  sliould  charge  certain  Gentlemen  of  the  Town 
(whoso  names  lie  had  sent  by  the  messengers)  to  assist  him ;  which 
Battison  did,  going  to  their  houses  to  call  them,  thougli  there  were 
near  a  hundred  common  people  spectators  in  the  Streets.  .  .  . 
About  ten  of  the  clock  in  the  morning  the  Meeters  went  with  liatti- 
»on  and  the  Apparitors  (being  constrained  so  to  do)  to  the  Swan  in 
Jifdford,  where  being  kept  till  four  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon, 
and  their  names  takeu  ]jy  the  Justices,  they  were  set  at  liberty." 

"  Ne.xt  Morning  Mr.  Foster,  the  Justice,  appears  early  in  the 
Btroets,  with  old  Battison  and  the  two  Apparitors,  a  file  of  souldiers 
and  some  fonstables,  to  see  the  Finos  levied  upon  the  Meeters' 
Goods ;  cliarging  to  his  assi.stanco  such  p(;rsons  lie  sees,  and  send- 
ing for  otliers  to  their  houses,  but  got  few  or  none  besides  his  first 
company;    moat  of  tiie  Trade.snicu,   Journeymen,   Lalj(jururs,   and 


220  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap.  ix. 

Servants  having'  either  left  the  Town  or  hid  themselves  to  avoid  his 
call.  The  Town  was  so  thin  of  people,  that  it  looked  more  like  a 
Country  Village  than  a  Corporation  ;  and  the  shops  being  generally 
shut  down,  it  seemed  like  a  place  visited  with  the  Pest,  where  usually 
is  written  upon  the  Door,  Lord  have  mercy  upon  us  I'''' 

But  such  assistance  as  he  had  Foster  now  set  to  work.  In 
the  house  of  Nicholas  Hawkins,  the  cutler,  and  of  Thomas 
Honylove,  the  shoemaker,  they  found  the  children  sick  of  the 
small-pox,  and  naturally  made  short  work  of  their  visit  there. 
At  Michael  Shepherd's  they  distrained  for  five  shillings,  and  at 
Thomas  Cooper's,  the  heel-maker,  for  forty,  "  distreyniug  three 
cart-load  of  Wood,  cut  especially  for  his  working,  which 
was  of  more  value  than  any  of  his  household  Goods,  he 
being  a  poor  man,  and  living  only  upon  making  Heels  and 
Lasts."  Daniel  Rich,  a  tanner  and  constable  of  his  ward, 
had  his  best  coat  distrained  for  a  fine  of  five  shillings  upon 
his  wife,  and  John  Spencer,  the  grocer,  his  shop -goods  for  a 
fine  of  forty.  After  visiting  and  plundering  Jay,  the  baker, 
and  Isaac,  the  blacksmith,  taking  from  the  latter  "  Locks, 
Shovels,  and  the  very  Anvil  upon  which  he  forgeth  his 
work,"  they  made  their  way  to  the  parish  of  St.  Cuthbert, 
to  the  house  of  Thomas  Arthur,  the  pipe-maker.  This  man  was 
somewhat  of  a  celebrity  in  his  time,  and  now  and  again  tobacco- 
pipes  of  his  making,  with  "  T.  A."  upon  them,  and  with  exceed- 
ing small  bowls,  as  indicating  the  costliness  of  the  weed  in 
those  days,  turn  up  among  the  ancient  debris  of  the  town. 
Arthur's  door  was  locked  when  Foster  arrived,  but  was  opened 
immediately,  and  as  Foster  proceeded  to  distrain  he  was  asked 
for  what  sum  demand  was  made,  to  which  he  replied  £11. 

"  Thereupon  Thos.  Arthur  desired  to  see  the  "Warrant ;  which 
being  produced,  he,  seeing  himself  therein  but  six  pound,  told  Mr. 
Foster  so  ;  to  which  Mr.  Foster  answered  that  there  was  five  pound 
more  for  keeping  his  door  locked.  When  Thos.  Arthur  perceived 
that  Mr.  Foster  would  distreyn  all  his  Goods,  he  said,  '  Sir,  ivhat 
shall  my  Children  do  ?  shall  they  starve  ? '  Mr.  Foster  replied,  that  so 
long  as  he  was  a  Rebel  his  Children  should  starve.  And  so  on  Wednes- 
day following,  old  Battison,  the  two  Ajjparitors,  with  a  File  of 
Musquetiers  and  a  Cart,  carried  away  what  Household  Goods  they 
thought  fit,  and  all  the  Wood,   both  within   doors  and  without. 


1670.]  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  STORM.  221 

necessary  to  his  Trade,  by  three  Cart-load,  not  leaving  so  mnch  as  to 
suffice  for  the  burning  of  a  Kiln  of  Pipes,  ready  set,  though  earn- 
estly desired  by  the  poor  Pipemaker  himself,  and  also  by  others  of 
Battison^s  Company." 

After  distraining  Robert  Brown,  the  gardener,  for  a  fine  of 
three  pounds — 

"  They  passed  into  Peterh  Parish  to  the  House  of  Mris.  Man/ 
Tilney,  "Widow,  a  Gentlewoman,  well  descended,  and  of  a  good 
Estate,  who  was  fined  Twenty  pounds ;  and  to  make  her  exemplary 
in  sulfering  for  that  offence  Mr.  Foster  himself,  being  attended  by 
his  Publick  Notary,  will  see  the  fine  effectually  levied  upon  her 
Goods  ;  and  indeed  the  same  was  effectually  done ;  for  (a  Cart 
being  provided  for  that  purpose)  they  distreyned  and  carried  away 
all  the  Goods  in  her  House  they  thought  worth  their  labour,  as 
Tables,  Cupboards,  Chairs,  Irons,  Feather-beds,  Blankets,  the  very 
Hangings  of  the  Eoom,  and  Sheets  off  her  Bed,  insomuch  that  the 
Widow  was  forced  that  night  to  borrow  Sheets  of  her  Neighbours 
to  lie  on,  being  not  willing  to  lodge  out  of  her  own  House,  though 
invited  by  her  friendly  Neighbours.  As  for  the  value  of  those 
Goods  taken  away,  it  is  supposed  to  be  betwixt  forty  and  fifty 
pounds.  Yet  the  said  Mris.  Tilney  was  more  troubled  at  the  crying 
and  sighing  of  her  poor  Neighbours  about  her  (who  were  much 
affected  with  her  Sufferings,  she  being  very  charitable),  than  for 
the  loss  of  her  Goods,  which  she  took  very  chearfully.  And  so  the 
officers  left  her,  having  finished  this  dayes  work." 

"The  next  day  being  Tuesday  more  Fines  were  to  be  levied  on 
the  Goods  of  the  rest  of  the  Meetors.  About  ten  of  the  Clock  old 
liattison,  with  the  Souldiers,  and  some  Constables,  whom  he  had 
warned  over-night  to  bo  in  readiness,  marcheth  up  the  High-street, 
where  ho  levieth  the  Fine  of  five  pounds  upon  John  Fen,  the  Haber- 
dasher of  Hatts  before-mentioned,  at  whose  House  the  meeting 
was  ;  taking  away  all  the  Hats  in  his  Shop,  and  the  next  Day 
carted  away  his  Household  Goods,  because  there  was  but  twenty- 
nine  Hats  in  tlio  Shop,  beside  Hat-bands,  tliat  they  took  away. 
Having  thus  dealt  with  this  Hatter,  ho  imxeeds  to  deal  the  same* 
measure  to  another  Hatter,  one  Samuel  Fen,  wlio  was  also  fined 
iivo  poundw,  and  dealt  with  as  his  Brotlier  before  him." 

Sf)  the  work  wont  on  fnjni  day  to  day,  from  one  parisli  lo 
another,  and  from  IJedford  to  Cotfen-Ilnd,  whcsre  Sir  Georgo 
liluudcll  of  Cardington  joined  William  Foatur  in  his  crusado, 


222  JOHN  BUNT  J  K  [chap.  ix. 

clearing  out  the  weaver's  loom  and  the  farmer's  cows,  as  the 
penalty  for  worshipping  with  those  with  whom  they  felt  most 
in  sympathy.     At  Gotten  End 

"  Thomas  Thorowgood^s  Fine  (at  whose  House  the  Meeting  was 
said  to  be)  was  Nineteen  Pounds,  who  was  by  the  Officers  dis- 
treyned,  and  all  that  he  had,  with  the  Implements  of  his  Trade  (he 
being  a  Weaver),  taken  from  him,  and  the  said  Thorowgood,  with 
his  wife,  is  since  departed  away  from  their  dwelhng  and  gone." 

These  particulars,  with  others,  are  found  in  a  pamphlet 
entitled  "  A  True  and  Impartial  Narrative  of  some  Illegal  and 
Arbitrary  Proceedings  by  certain  Justices  of  the  Peace  and 
others,  against  several  innocent  and  peacable  Nonconformists  in 
and  near  the  Town  of  Bedford,  upon  pretence  of  putting  in 
execution  the  late  Act  against  Conventicles.  Published  for 
general  information.     Printed  in  the  year  1670." 

There  was  no  publisher's  name  to  the  pamphlet,  for  to  give 
that  would  have  been  to  bring  down  vengeance  upon  the  pub- 
lisher ;  but  from  its  appearance  we  may  judge  that  it  was 
issued  from  the  press  of  Francis  Smith  at  Temple  Bar.  The 
writer,  who  signs  himself — it  was  not  safe  to  say  more — "  Your 
assured  Friend,"  makes  a  quiet  and  serious  appeal  to  the  public 
opinion  of  the  time, 

"  The  Narrative,"  he  says,  "  is  true,  and  will  be  proved  in  every 
part :  the  Sufferers  are  chearf ul  and  peacable  ;  their  immediate 
Persecutors  are  the  scum  of  the  people,  and  chiefly  the  appurtenants 
of  the  Commissaries'  Court ;  and  the  most  forward  Instrument  of 
that  Sort  is  one  that  hath  openly  avowed  and  declared  his  Esteem 
for  Popery  above  other  Religions." 

' '  This  instance  of  the  Execution  of  the  late  Act  is  not  thus  made 
pubhck,  as  though  there  were  no  other  of  the  same  kind  in  other 
places,  but  as  one  of  the  first  whose  Tragical  Acts  have  been  col- 
lected. Nor  is  the  design  of  publishing  hereof  to  cast  any  reflection 
on  the  Act  itself ;  let  it  stand  or  fall  in  the  Providence  of  God,  as  it 
shall  be  found  complyant  with,  or  opposite  to,  the  Honour  and 
Interest  of  his  Majesty,  with  the  Peace,  Welfare,  and  Prosperity  of 
the  Kingdomes.  Councels  for  pubKc  good  are  the  Province  of  our 
Superiours ;  ready  Obedience  or  peacable  Sufferings  are  the  lot  of 
Private  Men.  There  is  no  intention  to  meet  Violence  bv  Violence  : 
it  is  the  intention  of  their  Enemies  to  hurry  them  into  a  disturbance 
of  the  Publick  Peace.     But  all  Endeavours  of  that  kind  will  be  in 


1670]  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  STORM.  223 

vain,  and  the  hopes  of  some  about  it  wholly  frustrate.  It  is  nothing 
Else  but  the  Authority  of  God  in  their  Consciences  which  imposes  a 
necessity  upon  them  to  practise  those  things  in  their  Christian  Pro- 
fession for  which  they  are  made  obnoxious  to  so  great  Sufferings, 
and  gives  them  a  supportment  irnder  them.  The  distui-bance  of  the 
Publick  Peace  would  be  at  once  to  renounce  the  Principle  of  their 
Actings  and  to  deprive  themselves  of  the  Comfort  of  their  Sufferings. 
''  The  Ends,  therefore,  of  publishing  this  Account  are  plainly  and 
only  these :  First,  to  prepare  others  for  suffering ;  2ndly,  humbly 
to  demand  of  our  Legislators  whether  this  be  the  Garment  of  their 
Offspring  ?  3rdly,  to  give  a  clear  Prospect  into  the  sad  Effects  of 
the  Prosecution  of  this  Act,  showing  that  there  hath  been  very  little 
regard  to  Law,  Equity,  Peace,  Love,  Humanity,  or,  indeed,  any- 
thing that  is  desirable  or  useful  among  Mankind.  AVhether  the 
Evils  inflicted  will  be  recompensed  to  the  Kingdom  by  the  Satisfac- 
tion given,  Men,  wise,  peacable,  and  sober,  will  in  their  own  minds 
judge  and  determine." 

The  same  year  there  appeared  a  reply  to  this  narrative,  from 

the  pen   of  Foster  himself,  of  which   a  single  copy   survives 

among  the  pamphlets  in  the  Bodleian.*     He  makes  no  attempt, 

for  it  would  have  been  useless,  to  deny  the  facts  of  the  ease. 

But  he  seeks  to  diminish  their  damaging  effect  by  retort  of 

taunt  and   sneer  and  base  insinuation.     He  goes  even  farther 

still,  and  the  gross  indecencies  of  his  pages  cannot,  as  they 

need   not,  be  reproduced  in  our   time.      It  would  have  been 

better  to  have  remained  silent.     This  pamphlet  of  defence  is  a 

deepening  of  the  accusation.     It  is  one  more   proof,  if  j)roof 

were  needed,  that  persecution  is  a  weapon  that  kills  both  at  the 

breech   and  at   the  muzzle,   that,   though   it  may   strike    and 

wound  those  against  whom  it  is  directed,  it  yet  more  certainly 

debases  and  degrades  those  who  use  it. 

•  The  Acl  (ujaiml  Conventicles  Executed:  with  a  Vindication  of  the  Bod- 
fordiihire  Justices'  Proceedings  from  the  Aspersions  of  a  False,  Importinont, 
and  Libellous  I'ainphlet,  cntitleil  A  true  and  impartial  Xanatite,  ^r.  London  : 
prinUd  by  W.G.  .M.DC.LXX.    (I'resaiuark  4".     II,  32  .\jl.) 


X. 

THREE  YEAES  OF  LIBERTY :  1672—1675. 

The  montlis  between  May,  1670,  when  constables  and  mus- 
quetiers  were  making  raids  upon  the  Nonconformists  of  Bedford, 
and  March,  1672,  when  the  Conventicle  Act  was  suspended  by 
the  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  may  be  roughly  divided  into 
two  parts  ;  the  first  extending  to  April,  1671,  when  Parlia- 
ment was  prorogued,  not  to  be  called  together  again  for  two 
years ;  the  second,  embracing  the  following  eleven  months 
during  which  the  King,  uncontrolled  by  the  House  of  Commons, 
did  very  much  as  he  liked.  The  first  of  these  periods  was,  of 
course,  the  hardest  for  the  Nonconformists,  who  usually  fared 
worse  under  the  Cavaliers  in  Parliament  than  at  the  hands  of 
the  King.  During  this  time  a  yet  more  determined  endeavour 
was  made  to  put  an  end  to  all  religious  services  outside  the 
Established  Church.  The  business  of  detecting  and  suppress- 
ing conventicles  was  organized  into  a  system  under  the 
local  magistracy.  Some  of  the  worst  men  in  the  community 
found  lucrative  employment  as  spies  ;  their  pay  depending  upon 
the  diligence  with  which  they  hunted  down  the  peaceable 
people  who  frequented  these  gatherings.  They  had  every 
inducement  to  be  vigilant,  for  they  received  at  the  rate  of 
£7  or  £8,  and  sometimes  even  as  much  as  £15  for  a  single 
successful  conviction. 

In  special  cases  the  offenders  were  reported  to  the  central 
Government.  Among  the  State  Papers  there  is  a  Spy-book 
arranged  alphabetically,  showing  how  the  district  between 
Bedford  and  Cambridge  was  at  this  time  placed  under  surveil- 
lance. It  reports  that  one  Audey  lives  at  Meldreth,  three 
miles  from  Poyston,  "  where  are  concourses  of  many  hundreds 
both    Independents    and    Baptists,"   and   how    he    rides    into 


IGTl.]         THREE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY-  1072—1075.        225 

Herts,  Cambs,  and  Beds,  to  gather  concourses  of  people  to 
their  meetings  ;  tliat  Francis  Holcroft  stops  at  the  house  of 
"Widow  Hawkes,  at  Barlyn  in  Herts,  and  holds  meetings  in  the 
neighbourhood,  three  hundred  at  a  time,  and  also  meets  with 
many  hundreds  at  Cambridge;  that  Lock,  Audey's  assistant, 
"takes  turns  to  ride"  to  Hitchin,  Paul's  Walden,  Bedford, 
and  Shefford.  The  system  of  espionage  had  been  more  or  less 
at  work  ever  since  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  but  in 
1670-1,  it  was  more  rigorously  carried  out  than  before.  This 
trade,  always  odious  in  the  eyes  of  Englishmen,  became  more 
odious  still  because  more  vigorously  plied.  In  his  life  and 
death  of  Mr.  Badman,  Bunyan  makes  his  typical  scoundrel 
turn  informer  for  the  sake  of  harassing  his  Christian  wife,  and 
he  also  introduces,  by  the  way,  the  story  of  W.S.,  whom  the 
Quaker  records  enable  us  to  identify  as  William  Swinton,  the 
Sexton  of  St.  Cuthbert's,  a  man  of  very  wicked  life,  "  who 
would  needs  turn  informer."  He  tells  how  this  man  would 
watch  of  nights,  climb  trees,  and  range  the  woods  of  days  to 
find  out  the  meeters  who,  at  that  time,  were  forced  to  gather 
in  the  fields.  The  common  people  had  many  stories  of  the 
judgments  of  heaven  which  befell  these  men.  It  was  told  how 
Swinton  fell  from  the  bell  in  the  steeplehouse  and  was  picked 
up  besmeared  with  blood,  dj'ing  miserably.  How,  as  Bunj'au 
himself  narrated,  an  informer  at  St.  Neots,  died  from  a  bite 
and  gangrened  wound,  his  flesh  rotting  from  his  bones ;  and 
how  Fecknam,  Swinton's  colleague  at  Bedford,  a  man  who 
turned  to  this  wretched  trade  after  running  through  a  con- 
siderable estate  at  Turvey,  was  suddenly  smitten  at  the  Visita- 
tion at  Anipthill,  the  very  month  after  harassing  the  meeters 
in  John  Feiin's  house,  and  how  he  died  in  great  pain  and 
anguish  of  body,  now  raving  against  the  fanatics  and  now 
blaming  Mr.  Foster  for  setting  him  in  his  oflice. 

Besides  those  who  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  local  magis- 
trates, others  of  the  Bedfordshire  Nonconformists  were  con- 
victed in  the  Court  of  Exchequer  at  AVestminstor.  In  I<i7I, 
seventy-seven  persons  from  the  county  were  certilied  by  the  Lord 
Treasurer's  Remembrancer  as  having  been  convicted  and  lined 
£20  each  ;  their  united  lines  with  the  monthly  accumulations 
for  persistent  refusal  to  come  to  Church,  amounting  to  £  J,. "370. 

u 


226  JOBN  B  TJNYAN.  [chap.  x. 

Sixteen  of  these  were  from  Turvey,  six  from  Amptliill,  eight 
fromWoburn,  four  from  Westoning,  of  whom  Lawrence  Bunnion 
the  joiner  was  one,  eleven  from  Toddington,  the  remaining 
thirty-two  being  from  eleven  other  villages  of  the  county.  The 
Deputy,  in  his  certificate,  raises  the  question  as  to  the  desir- 
ability of  enforcing  payment  of  the  accumulations  reckoned  at 
the  rate  of  £20  a  month,  by  which,  instead  of  the  £277,090 
due  from  twenty-three  counties,  there  would  accrue  a  sum  of 
four  or  five  millions  sterling.  "Upon  the  whole  question," 
says  he,  "a  considerable  summe  might  be  raised  by  putting 
these  laws  in  execution,  but,"  he  cautiously  adds,  "  what  dis- 
order it  might  produce  in  His  Majesty's  affairs  is  worthy  con- 
sideracion."  * 

The  following  year  the  severity  was  considerably  mitigated, 
and  Bunyan  had  so  much  liberty  allowed  him  that  the  Church 
began  to  consider  the  propriety  of  electing  him  as  their  pastor, 
prisoner  though  he  was.  They  had  never  all  been  reconciled 
to  the  necessity  of  mutual  exhortation  by  the  brethren  in  turn. 
Brother  Whitbread  of  Cardington,  for  example,  had  for  some 
time  stayed  away  from  their  gatherings,  explaining — 

"To  dismember  myself  I  never  intended,  as  having  bene  per- 
suaded from  Scripture  grounds  of  the  consonancy  of  the  Congrega- 
tional! way  with  the  rule.  I  waited  to  see  if  any  doore  might  be 
opened  for  redresse  by  the  choyce  of  a  fit  Pastor  and  the  mercy  of 
a  spirit  of  government  among  us,  which,  since  the  death  of  our  Pastor 
hath  been  greatly  wanting." 

Eventually  his  scruples  were  overcome,  and  a  more  settled 
order  provided  for,  as  the  following  entries  show : — 

"At  a  Meeting  of  the  Church  at  Bedford  the  9th  of  the  8th 
moneth  [9th  Nov.]  (1671)  our  beloved  brother  Whitbread  was 
received  againe  into  close  Cofiiunion  with  the  Church ;  he  making 
a  gracious  acknowledgment  of  his  sorrow  and  repentance  for  all 
those  miscarriages  of  which  he  had  bene  admonished  before.  In 
his  giving  up  of  himself  to  the  Church  againe,  he  did  also  in  the 
most  full  manner,  without  any  reservation,  commit  himself,  as  also 
his  gifts,  in  the  Lord,  to  the  dispose  of  the  congregation ;  and  did 
with  freenes  acknowledge    the  Eldership  that  is  among  us,   and 

*  AUl.  MSS.,  20,  739,  Co.  Beds. 


1671.]         innEE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY :  1072— 1G75.       227 

commit  himself  to  their  care  and  government.  It  was  also  con- 
cluded tliat  the  24th  day  of  this  monoth  being  y""  4th  day  of  tho 
week  there  should  be  at  Ilaues  a  generull  assembly  of  this  congre- 
gation. 

"  At  a  generall  Assembly  of  the  Church  at  Hanes  the  24th  of  the 
8th  moneth  [24th  Nov.].  There  was  received  to  walke  in  fellowship 
with  tliis  congregation  our  brother  John  Clarke,  and  Samuell 
Holcroft  and  our  sister  Thorowgood.  The  improvement  also  of  the 
gifts  of  the  Churdi,  and  their  disposall  in  an  orderly  way  was 
proposed  to  consideration,  that  God  might  be  sought  for  direction 
therein.  And  a  time  farther  to  consider  and  debate  thereof  was 
appointed  this  day  sevennight  at  Evening  at  Bedford,  when  the 
principall  brethren  were  desired  for  that  end  to  come  together  at 
brother  John  ffenne's  ;  and  a  Church  meeting  was  appointed  to  be 
there  that  day  week.  The  Church  was  also  minded  to  seeke  God 
about  the  choice  of  brother  Bunyan  to  the  office  of  an  Elder  that 
their  way  in  that  respect  may  be  cleared  up  to  them." 

The  purpose  of  electing  Bunyan  to  this  position  had,  probably, 
been  for  some  time  taking  shape  in  the  minds  of  the  brother- 
hood. Many  things  seemed  to  point  to  him  as  the  sent  of  God. 
Through  a  long  imprisonment  he  had  remained  true  to  his 
convictions.  Mentally  as  well  as  spiritually  he  had  grown  in 
grasp  and  power,  as  book  after  book  of  his,  issuing  from  the 
press,  had  borne  witness.  Ilis  "  Grace  Abounding  "  especially,  by 
giving  them  a  deeper  insight  into  tho  workings  of  his  experience, 
had  given  him  a  stronger  hold  upon  their  affection  and  confi- 
dence. His  influence  had  grown  and  his  power  of  service  with 
it.  When  letters  had  to  be  written  to  their  persecuted  brethren 
and  sisters,  he  was  the  chosen  scribe  ;  when  anxious  conference 
had  to  be  held  with  wavering  members,  he  was  the  appointed 
messenger.  Still  more,  his  power  as  a  preacher  commended 
him  to  them  as  the  chosen  of  God  to  bo  tho  shepherd  of  the 
flock.  But  tho  matter  was  grave,  and  demanded  iixMiucnt 
conference  and  prayer,  as  the  following  entries  show : — 

"Bedford,  tho  la.st  of  y«  9th  rnonctli  [Slst  Doc.].  Tlioro  was 
appointc<l  another  meeting  at  Bt'di'onl  tho  (ith  day  of  tho  10th 
mouoth  [<jth  Jan.]  to  pray  and  consult  about  concluding  y"  affairo 
b'jforo  propounded  concerning  tho  gifts  of  tlio  brethren  to  be  im- 
prooved,  and  tho  choyco  of  brother  Bunyan  to  office,  and  at  Gani- 
linghay  tho  14th  day,  and  at  llunea  tho  2Ulh,  and  ut  Bedford  tlio 

u2 


228  JOEN  BUNYAK  [chap.  x. 

21st  of  the  same  instant,  which,  was  desired  might  be  a  general! 
meeting. 

"  Bedford,  the  6th  of  the  10th  moneth  [6th  Jan.].  At  this  Meet- 
ing it  was  desired  that  the  Church  would  consider  and  pray  to  Grod 
about  the  choosing  of  brother  John  ifenne  to  the  office  of  a  deacon. 

"At  the  fore-appointed  Meeting  of  the  Church  at  Hanes  there 
was  also  as  before  at  Gamlinghay  the  things  before-mentioned 
soberly  considered  and  the  Church  stirred  up  still  to  pray  about  them. 

"At  a  full  Assembly  of  the  Church  at  Bedford  the  21st  of  the 
10th  moneth  [Jan.  21st,  1672]:  After  much  seeking  Grod  by 
prayer,  and  sober  conference  formerly  had  the  Congregation  did 
at  this  meeting  with  joynt  consent  (signifyed  by  solemne  lifting  up 
of  their  hands)  call  forth  and  appoint  our  brother  John  Bunyan  to 
the  pastorall  office  or  eldership.  And  he  accepting  thereof,  gave 
up  himself  to  serve  Christ  and  his  Church  in  that  charge  ;  and  re- 
ceived of  the  Elders  the  right  hand  of  fellowship. 

"The  same  time  also,  the  Congregation  having  had  long  expe- 
rience of  the  faithfulness  of  brother  John  fPenne  in  his  care  for  the 
poor,  did  afterthesamemanner  solemn ely  choose  him  to  the  honour- 
able office  of  a  deacon  and  committed  their  poor  and  purse  to  him, 
and  he  accepted  thereof,  and  gave  up  himself  to  y®  Lord  and  them 
in  that  service. 

' '  The  same  time  and  after  the  same  manner  the  Church  did 
solemnely  approve  the  gifts  of  and  called  to  the  worke  of  the 
Ministery  these  brethren  :  John  ffenne,  Oliver  Scott,  Luke  Ast- 
wood,  Thomas  Cooper,  Edward  Dent,  Edward  Isaac,  Nehemiah 
Coxe,  for  the  furtherance  of  the  worke  of  God,  and  carrying  on 
thereof  in  the  meetings  usually  maintained  by  this  Congregation 
as  occasion  and  opportimity  shall  by  providence  be  ministred  to 
them. 

"And  did  further  determine  that  if  any  new  place  offered  itself, 
or  another  people  that  we  have  not  f idl  knowledge  or  communion 
with,  shall  desire  that  any  of  these  brethren  should  come  to  them  to 
be  helpful  to  them  by  the  word  and  doctrine,  that  then  such  brother 
so  desu'ed,  shall  first  present  the  thing  to  y®  Congregation ;  who 
after  due  consideration  will  determine  thereof ;  and  according  as 
they  shall  determine  so  shall  such  brother  act  and  doe. 

"  The  Congregation  did  also  determine  to  keep  the  26th  of  this 
instant,  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  both  here,  and  at  Hanes, 
and  at  Gamlinghay  solemnely  to  recommend  to  the  grace  of  God 
brother  Bunyan,  brother  ffenne  and  the  rest  of  the  brethren,  and 
to  intreat  his  gracious  assistance  and  presence  with  them  in  their 
respective  worke  whereunto  he  hath  called  them." 


1G72.]         THREE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY:  1G72— 1675.         2J9 

Haviug  thus  made  a  more  memorable  election  of  a  minister 
than  they  realised  themselves,  "  God  appearing  in  his  glory 
once  more  to  build  up  his  Zion,"  by  the  calling  out  of  seven 
earnest  men  as  preachers  and  workers  with  him  in  the  villages 
round  ;  the  Church  began  to  look  out  for  a  settled  home  as  well 
as  a  pastor.  It  was  now  nearly  twelve  years  since  they  left 
the  church  of  St.  John  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  and 
during  all  that  time  they  had  been  homeless  wanderers,  meeting 
now  in  each  other's  houses,  and  now  in  fields  and  woods.  They 
dared  to  hope  that  they  had  at  last  reached  the  end  of  the  way 
of  the  wilderness.  For  the  King's  Declaration,  which  came  out 
within  about  seven  weeks  after  Buuyan's  election  to  the 
pastorate,  while  admitting  that  it  was  "  Evident  by  the  sad 
experience  of  twelve  yeares  that  there  is  very  little  fruit  of  all 
these  forceable  Courses"  so   long  persisted  in,  went  on  to  say  : 

"That  there  may  be  no  pretence  for  any  of  Our  Subjects  to  con 
tinue  their  illegall  IMeetings  and  Conventicles,  Wee  doe  Declare, 
That  wee  shall  from  time  to  time  allow  a  sufficient  number  of  Tiaces, 
as  they  shall  bee  desired,  in  all  parts  of  this  Our  Ivingdome,  for  the 
use  of  such  as  doe  not  conforme  to  the  Church  of  England,  to 
meete  and  assemble  in,  in  Order  to  their  Publick  Worsliip  aud 
Devotion  ;  which  Places  shall  be  open  and  free  to  all  Persons." 

The  liberty  thus  granted  was,  by  Bunyan's  congregation, 
speedily  accepted.  One  of  their  number,  Josias  Ruflhead, 
purcha.sed  from  Justice  Crompton  of  Elstow  an  orchard  in 
Mill  Lane,  in  which  there  was  a  barn.  This  barn  was  at  once 
duly  licensed  as  their  place  of  meeting,  as  the  following  docu- 
ment shows  : — 

CITAT^LES.  &c.  To  all  Mayors,  l?uili (Is,  Con- 

A  place  for  a  T.mcher      gtabU-s.  and  ..tlicrs,  Our  Officers  aud  Ministers, 
in  Ikdford.  .  ,  . 

Livill   and    Alilitary,   whom  it   may  concerno, 

Greeting.     In  pursuance  of  our  Declaracon  of  the  loth  of  March, 

IGTJ,  Wee  have  allow'ed  and  Woo  doe  hereby  allow  of  tlio  House  of 

Josias  Rouglunl  in  I{e(lf(»rd  to  bo  u  place  for  tho  use  of  sucli  as  doe 

not  fonfonne  to  tlio  Church  of   Kiij^hind  who  are  of  tho  Perswasioii 

conmionly  called  Conf^rejrationiill  to  meet  an<l  ussenible  in,  in  order 

to  their  Publick  Worship  and  devotion.     And  all  and  Singular  Our 

Officors  and  Ministers,  I'iccloHiusticall,  (^ivill,  and  Military,  whom  it 

may  concerno  are  U)  taki*  due  ncHico  hereof.     And  they  and  over>' 


230  JOHN  BUNYAK.  [chap.  x. 

of  them  are  hereby  strictly  charged  and  required  to  hinder  any 
Tumult  or  Disturbance,  and  to  protect  them  in  their  said  Meetings 
and  Assemblies.  Given  at  our  Court  at  Whitehall  the  9th  day  of 
May  in  the  24th  yeare  of  our  Reigne,  1672. 

By  His  Ma"^'  command, 

Arlington. 

The  barn  thus  licensed  with  the  orchard  in  which  it  stood 
were,  on  payment  of  a  sum  of  £50,  duly  conveyed  by  indenture 
dated  August  20th,  1672,  from  "  Josias  Ruffhead  to  John 
Banyan,  of  the  Towne  of  Bedford,  Brasier  ;  John  Fenn,  Samuel 
Fenn,  of  the  said  Towne,  Haberdashers  ;  Thomas  Crocker  of 
Kimbolton  in  the  county  of  Huntingdon,  Linen  Draper ;  Thomas 
Cooper  of  the  Towne  of  Bedford,  Last  Maker ;  and  Samuel 
Hensman  of  the  same  towne.  Draper."  The  orchard  "  with  all 
that  Edifice  or  Barne  upon  it "  thus  sold  to  Bunyan  and  his 
friends,  was  situate  on  a  strip  of  land  between  Castle  Lane  and 
Mill  Lane  or  School  Lane  on  the  south  and  north,  and  between 
a  garden  held  by  John  Eston,  on  the  east  side  (with  a  barn 
upon  it)  called  Pynners,  and  a  garden  with  a  dove-house  upon 
it  on  the  west  side,  still  held  by  Josias  E-uffhead,  and  separated 
by  a  paling.* 

This  strip  of  land,  probably  part  of  the  moat  of  Bedford 
Castle,  which  was  dismantled  in  1224,  was  so  much  lower  than 
the  street  on  the  north  side  that  when  the  barn  gave  place  to  a 
new  meeting  house  in  1707,  in  the  days  of  Bunyan's  successor, 
Ebenezer  Chandler,  some  wag,  descending  with  him  the  four 
or  five  steps  that  led  to  the  building,  turned  to  him  with  the 
query  : — 

"  If  upicard  be  the  road  to  bliss, 
Pri'thee,  Chandler,  where  leads  this  ?  " 

The  friend  who  wrote  the  continuation  of  Bunyan's  Life 
to  complete  the  "  Grace  Abounding  "  was  evidently  under  the 
impression  that  a  new  building  was  erected  for  Bunyan  to 
preach  in  on  this  site  after  his  release  from  prison.  He  says  : — 

"Hereupon  he  gathered  his  congregation  at  Bedford,  where  he 
mostly  lived,  and  had  lived,  and  had  spent  the  greatest  part  of  his 
life ;  and  there  being  no  convenient  place  to  be  had  for  the  enter- 


* 


Corporation  Records,  List  of  Hagable  Kents,  1681. 


1672.] 


THFxEE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY :  1G72— 1GT5. 


231 


tainment  of  so  great  a  confliience  of  pooplo  as  followed  liim  upon 
the  account  of  his  teaching,  he  consulted  \\'\\\\  tlieni  for  the  building 
of  a  meeting  house,  to  which  they  made  their  voluntary  contribu- 
tions with  aU  cheerfulness  and  alacrity,  and  the  first  time  he  appeared 
there  to  edify,  the  place  was  so  thronged  that  many  were  constrained 
to  stay  without,  though  the  house  was  very  spacious,  everyone 
striving  to  partake  of  his  instructions,  that  were  of  his  persuasion, 
and  show  their  good  will  towards  him  by  being  present  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  place." 

This    writer,     probably    one    of    his    Loudou    friends,    was 


Bunyan's  Ciiaih. 
[/n  the  Vcitry  at  Bedford.] 


under  a  misapprchenHJon  wlicn  thus  stating  thai  ;i  new 
meeting  liouse  was  erected  for  liuiiyan  ;  for  when  the  building 
in  which  he  preached  till  his  deatli  was  taken  down  in  1707 
to  make  way  for  its  successor,  it  was  still  described  in  the  deed 
of  transfer  of  that  year  as  "  All  that  Edifice  or  liarne."  It 
was  proljaiily  therefore  on  the  lurnisiiing  and  (tpcning  of  this 


232 


JOHN  BUN Y AN. 


[chap.  X. 


barn  that  tlie  great  interest  was  shown  and  the  great  crowd 
gathered  which  this  contemporary  writer  has  described  for  us. 
The  spot  thus  chosen  for  Bunyan  on  his  release  from  prison  has 
been  the  home  of  the  church  ever  since,  and  for  the  remaining 
sixteen  years  of  his  life  was  the  centre  of  his  activity,  the  cir- 
cumference of  his  influence  reaching  to  the  borders  of  the  adjacent 
counties  and  even  to  London  itself.  He  quickly  became  the  orga- 
nizing bishop  of  the  whole  district.  When  he  applied  for  his  own 
licence  to  preach,  in  May,  1672,  and  for  Josias  Eufi'head's  barn, 
he  applied  also  for  licences  for  twenty-five  other  preachers  and 
for  thirty  other  buildings.  Nineteen  of  these  were  in  Bedford- 
shire, three  in  Northamptonshire,  three  in  Buckinghamshire, 
two  in  Cambridgeshire,  and  one  in  Hertfordshire.  The  appli- 
cation, which  is  in  Bunyan's  handwriting,  is  preserved  in  the 
Record  Office,  in  a  bundle  containing  hundreds  of  similar  appli- 
cations from  all  the  counties  of  England.  Advantage  was  taken 
of  the  new  freedom  ofl'ered  by  the  king  to  ask  for  licences  as 
preaching  places  for  upper  rooms,  barns,  malting  floors,  gardens, 
houses,  buildings  in  orchards,  halls  belonging  to  public  com- 
panies, and  even  chambers  in  ruined  monasteries,  and  cellars  in 
old  castles.  The  following  is  the  form  of  application  sent  in 
by  Bunyan ; — 


Bedf. 

John  Donne, 

for  his  own  and  the  house  of  George 
Fowler  in  Kaishow. 

William  Jarvis, 

for  his  owne  house  in  Eidgemont  and 
for  George  Palmer's  house  in  Cran- 
field. 

Thos.  Kent, 

for  William  Amis,  his  house  ia  Cran- 
field. 

John  "Wright, 

for  the  Lake-house  bam  in  Blunham. 

Nathaniel  Alcock, 

for  John  Tingey's  house  at  Ford  End. 

John  Bunyon, 

for  Josias  Eoughead's  house  in  his 
orchard  in  Bedford. 

Edward  Isaac, 

for  the  house  of  Gilbert  Ashley  in 
Godlington. 

Thomas  Cooper, 

for  the  house  of  William  Findon  in 
Okeley. 

All   Congre^i-- 

John  Sewster, 

for    the    house   of    John  Baxter    in 

tionall. 

Kempston. 

John  Whiteman, 

for  the  house  of  Frances  Whiteman, 
widow,  in  Cardington. 

John  Feune, 

for  the  house  of  William  Man  in 
Stadgeden. 

1G72.]        THREE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY:  1G72— 1GT5. 


233 


All  Congrega-  j     Samuel  Fcnne, 
tionall. 

Nehemiah  Coxe, 

Edward  Dent, 

Stephen  Hawthorn, 
John  Allen, 

Daniel  Negoos, 

George  Fowler, 

James  Rogers, 

Thos.  Brett, 

Thos.  Edmunds 
Christopher  Stanley, 

Luke  Astwood, 
John  "Waite 

John  Gibbs, 
"William  Hensman, 


These  by 
lluntington- 
shire. 


yorthampton- 

shire. 

All  Congrcga- 

tionall. 

Cambridgeshire 


Merfordshire. 


Bucks, 


for  the  house  of  William  Muxcy  in 

Hanes. 
for   the    house  of   Sarah    Tomkins, 

widow,  in  ilaulden. 
for   George  Priddens  house  in  Ed- 
worth, 
for  his  own  house  in  Tur\-y. 
for  the  house  of  tho  Widow  Eeade  in 

Steventon. 
for  Robert  Chine's  house  in  Paven- 

ham. 
for  the  house  of  John  Cooke  in  Up- 

thorpe. 
for    the    house  of   John   Haynes   in 

Wonditch  in  Kimbolton  Parish, 
for  John  Moore,  his  barn  in  Wollas- 

ton. 
for  John  Brooks'  house  in  WoUaston. 
for  his  own  house  in  Brafield-in-the- 

Green. 
for  his  own  house  in  Gamblinghay. 
for  his  own  house  in  Toft, 
for  the   house  of  Thos.   Morrise  in 

Ash  well. 
for  William  Smyth's  bam  and  his  own 

house  in  Newport  Pagnell. 
for  Joseph  Kent,  his  barn  in  Olney. 


In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  in  which  he  was  released  wo 
findliunyan  preaching  at  Leicester  on  the  6th  of  October,  which 
was  Sunday.  The  fact  is  chronicled  in  the  "  Town  Records," 
because  it  was  necessary  for  the  preacher  to  show  his  licence 
"  to  Mr.  Overingc  the  Mayor,  Mr.  Freeman  and  Mr.  Browne 
being  present."  The  old  house  in  which,  according  to  tradition, 
he  preached  on  that  occasion,  still  stands  nearly  opposite  St. 
Nicholas'  Church,  and  is  the  one  in  which,  in  the  course  of  the 
following  century,  that  other  great  itinerant  preacher,  John 
Wesley,  slept  for  a  night  when  on  a  Gospel  errand  to  the  town. 
About  tho  time  IJunyan  was  showing  his  licence  to  Mr.  Mayor 
at  Leicester,  there  came  out  a  reply  to  tho  book  he  had  published 
in  the  spring  on  tho  "iJoctriue  of  Justification  by  Faith,"  in 
which  he  had  dealt  rather  closely  and  in  some  respects  not  alto- 
gether fairly  with  tlu'  work  on  the  "Design  of  Christianity," 
by  Edward  iMuvlcr,  rect(jr  (»f  Nurthill.  'i'his  reply  was  licensed 
on  the  lUth  of  Scptemi)er,  1G72,  and  hud  the  sort  of  tillo  which 


234  JOHN  BTINYAN.  [chap.  x. 

so  often  graced  the  pamphlets  and  heralded  the  controversies  of 
those  days.*  It  professed  to  be  written  by  a  friend  on  Fowler's 
behalf.  Fowler,  himself,  however,  is  credited  with  the  per- 
formance, the  truth  probably  being  that  it  was  the  joint  work 
of  himself  and  his  curate.  The  book  has  some  good  qualities, 
but  meekness  and  gentleness  are  not  its  most  conspicuous 
features.  A  country  rector  is  accustomed  to  a  good  deal  of 
deference  from  his  rural  neighbours,  and  when  a  book  of  his 
has  been  rudely  assailed  b}'  a  tinker,  he  naturally  feels  some- 
what impatient.  "  Among  the  many  successors  of  the  Pharisees 
in  these  days,  there  are  none,"  the  writer  has  "  reason  to  believe, 
whose  breasts  are  fuller  of  rancour  and  malice  than  is  the 
breast  of  the  man  that  hath  occasioned  the  publication  of  this 
pamphlet,  viz.,  John  Bunyan,  a  person  that  hath  been  near 
these  twenty  years,  or  longer,  most  infamous  in  the  Town  and 
County  of  Bedford  for  a  very  Pestilent  Schismatick."  This  no 
doubt  was  the  estimate  of  Bunyan  held  in  the  average  country 
rectories  and  vicarages  of  Bedfordshire,  and  it  was  scarcely 
likely  that  Fowler,  whose  self-complacency  had  been  ruffled  by 
the  tinker's  criticisms,  would  take  a  broader  view  of  the  man 
than  his  brethren  did.  Bunyan's  book,  the  writer  thinks,  is 
ill- conceived,  and  has  not  the  merit  of  originality.  "  For,  first. 
How  should  he  come  by  sayings  out  of  Campian  ?  but,  secondly 
(which  is  more  considerable)  he  hath  a  company  of  Terms  and 
Phrases  that  he  was  never  in  a  capacity  of  understanding,  as  Com- 
mixed, Radicals,  Abstract,  Replication,  &c.,  derived  from  the  Latin. 
Again,  Character istical.  Diametrical,  Parenthesis,  Paragraph,  &c., 
borrowed  from  the  Greek  language.  And  he  is  up  with  his 
arguing  from  a  thing  to  a  thing,  habits  and  acts,  which  smell  of 
one  whose  name  hath  had  the  honour  to  stand  a  little  while  in 
a  Colledge  Buttery  Book,  and  that  had  the  luck  sometimes 
to  hear  his  masters  chopping  logic  together."  Thus,  through 
seventy  pages,  he  goes  on  replying  to  one  who,  he  is  perpetually 
protesting,  is  not  worth  replying  to  at  all ;  and  concludes  by 
appealing  to  the  authorities  of  the  time  whether  this  man,  John 

*  Dirt  Wip't  Off:  or  a  manifest  Discovery  of  the  Gross  Ignorance,  Erro- 
neousness,  and  most  Unchristian  and  Wicked  Spirit  of  one  John  Bunyan,  Laj'- 
Preacher  in  Bedford.  London :  Richard  Royston,  Bookseller  to  His  most  Sacred 
Majesty,  1672. 


1672.]         THREE  YEARS   OF  LIBERTY:   1GT2— 1675.        235 

Bunyan,  "  ought  to  enjoy  any  interest  in  His  Majestie's  Toler- 
ation, and  whetlicr  the  letting  such  Firebrands  and  most  impu- 
dent malicious  Schismaticks  go  unpunish't  doth  not  tend  to 
subversion  of  all  Government  ?  I  say,  let  our  Superiors  judge 
of  this."  Thus  this  writer  vanishes  into  space,  demanding  as 
he  goes  yet  more  imprisonment  for  a  man  who  had  just  com- 
pleted twelve  years  of  it  already.  Happily  the  dust  of  oblivion 
is  plentiful,  and  in  the  main  kindly  ;  and  both  he  and  his  book 
are  long  since  peacefully  at  rest. 

Bunyan  appears  to  have  made  no  rejoinder  to  this  attack, 
for  he  was  by  this  time  engaged  in  warfare  that  concerned  him 
more  nearly.  The  book  he  had  published  in  the  early  months 
of  1672,  in  which  he  had  contended  for  the  reception  of  saints 
into  church  fellowship  as  saints,  independently  of  water  baptism, 
luid  been  violently  assailed  by  Paul  D'Anvers,  and  William 
Kiffin,  the  leader  of  those  London  Baptists  who  held  to  the 
principle  of  strict  communion.  As  Bunyan's  attitude  on  the 
question  of  baptism  is  still  of  present  interest  to  many,  both 
in  this  country  and  in  America,  it  may  be  well  to  define  it  as 
accuratelv  as  we  can. 

The  Church  at  Bedford,  of  which  he  was  now  the  pastor,  had 
from  the  beginning  taken  up  on  this  question  a  position  of 
neutrality.  All  its  earliest  members  had  been  brought  up  in 
the  National  Church,  and  in  their  infancy  baptized  into  its 
communion.  3Iost  of  them,  too,  before  coming  together  in  u 
.separate  church,  had  had  their  own  children  baptized  at  the 
hands  of  the  clergy.  The  registers  of  St.  Paul's,  in  Bedford, 
mention  the  baptism  of  the  children  of  John  Eston,  Jolin 
Grew,  Anthony  Harrington,  and  of  otliers  afterwards  in  fcllow- 
sliip  with  tlicm.  John  Gifl'ord  is  usually  spoken  of  as  a  ]{a])tist. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is  not  a  single  line  of  evidence  one 
way  or  the  other  to  show  what  his  personal  convictions  upon 
the  subject  were.  He  appealed  to  the  brethren  from  his  dratli- 
bed  not  to  divide  the  Church  on  such  questions.  "  Concerning 
separation  from  the  Church  about  baptism,"  says  lie,  "laying 
on  of  hunde,  anointing  with  oil,  psalms  or  any  externals,  1 
charge  every  one  of  you  reHpt'ctivcly,  as  you  will  give  an  account 
for  it  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  judge  both  (juick  and 
dead  ai  his  coming,  that  none  of  you   be  found  guilty  of  this 


236  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  x. 

great  evil,  which,  while  some  have  committed — and  that  through 
a  zeal  for  God,  yet  not  according  to  knowledge — they  have 
erred  from  the  law  of  the  love  of  Christ,  and  have  made  a  rent 
from  the  true  Church,  which  is  but  one."  The  fact  is  that 
baptism  was  but  one  of  several  externals  on  which  there  was 
at  that  time  considerable  ferment  of  opinion.  Their  neighbour, 
William  Dell,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  had  great  influence  with 
the  brethren  at  Bedford,  rector  of  a  parish  and  head  of  a  college 
though  he  was,  was  in  favour  of  dispensing  with  baptism  alto- 
gether. Indeed  so  pronounced  were  his  opinions  in  this  direc- 
tion that  he  has  sometimes  been  classed  as  a  Quaker,  and  his 
books  published  as  Quaker  books.  He  held  that  there  were 
two  baptisms,  that  of  John  and  that  of  Christ,  the  one  of  water, 
the  other  of  the  spirit.  The  baptism  of  John  was  the  baptism 
of  bodies,  the  baptism  of  Christ  the  baptism  of  souls.  John's 
water-baptism  was  to  last  but  till  Christ's  fire-baptism  began, 
and  then  the  fire  should  lick  up  the  water,  the  water-baptism 
decreasing  as  the  spirit-baptism  increased.  Christ  was  baptized 
of  John,  just  as  he  was  circumcised  as  a  child,  to  fulfil  all 
righteousness,  that  is,  to  meet  the  last  of  the  requirements  of  a 
system  under  which  he  was  born,  but  which  was  vanishing 
away.  Christ,  he  said,  never  baptized,  neither  did  Paul  care  to 
do  so,  though  he  preached  the  word  in  a  circuit  from  Jerusalem 
to  lUyricum.  And  though  some  of  the  other  Apostles  used 
baptism,  they  only  did  so  for  a  time  as  they  used  circumcision, 
for  their  sakes  who  were  weak.  Ceremonies  are  not  easily  and 
suddenly  laid  down,  and  it  was  best  to  leave  circumcision  with- 
out hands,  to  put  an  end  by  degrees  to  that  made  with  hands. 
For  ceremonies  are  best  laid  down  and  old  customs  best  laid 
aside  by  the  efficacy  of  the  Spirit  and  the  power  of  righteousness. 
Such  were  the  advanced  opinions  of  William  Dell,  which, 
sustained  as  they  were  by  his  strenuous  advocacy,  were  possibly 
not  without  influence  among  his  Bedford  neighbours.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  they  had  resolved  from  the  first  that  character  rather 
than  ritual  should  be  the  foundation  of  fellowship,  and  that  on 
external  matters  every  brother  should  be  left  to  walk  as  he 
believed  himself  to  be  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  So  strongly 
did  they  feel  on  this  point  that,  somewhat  inconsistently  as  it 
seems  to  me,  they  refused  to  recognise  as  churches  of  Christ 


1672.]         THREE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY:  \C>-r2—U-o.         237 

those  communities  which  held  to  the  strict  communion  prin- 
ciple. They  even  refused  to  ti'ansfer  their  honoured  sister, 
Mrs.  Tilncv,  to  a  church  in  London  of  which  her  own  son-in- 
law  was  the  pastor,  because  that  Church  made  baptism  by 
immersion  an  indispensable  condition  of  membership.  In  yet 
another  case  a  similar  refusal  was  given  and  persisted  in.  In 
their  own  records  there  is  no  mention  whatever  of  the  baptism 
of  any  of  their  members.  Beyond  the  two  cases  of  refusal 
just  referred  to,  the  mere  word  "  baptism  "  only  occurs  twice 
between  1650  and  1690.  This  was  in  1656,  and  the  passages 
are  these :  "  Our  sister  Linford  having  upon  the  account  of 
Baptisme  (as  shee  pretended)  w^Mrawnefrom  the  congregation, 
was  required  to  be  at  the  meeting  to  render  a  reason  for  her  so 
doinf>."  The  foUowino:  month  it  is  mentioned  that  Brother 
Crompe,  who  had  been  previously  proposed  for  fellowship, 
"desires  to  stay  still  upon  the  account  of  Baptisme."  These 
are  literally  the  only  references  to  the  subject  in  the  "  Act- 
Book"  of  the  Church  from  its  foundation  to  the  time  of  Bunyan's 
death,  and  they  are,  as  will  be  seen,  extremely  slight,  while  the 
scruples  of  the  brother  and  sister  concerned  may  be  interpreted 
either  one  way  or  the  other. 

It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  Bunyan  would  be  considerably 
influenced  by  the  feeling  of  his  brethren  on  this  matter.  In 
his  work  entitled  "Differences  in  Judgment  about  Water 
Baptism  no  bar  to  Communion,"  he  rather  implies  than  plainly 
states  that  he  is  a  Baptist.  He  defends  "  the  godly  in  the  land 
who  are  not  of  our  persuasion  ;  "  he  pleads  "  not  for  a  despising 
of  baptism,  but  a  bearing  with  our  brother  that  cannot  do  it 
for  want  of  light."  He  asks,  "  Because  I  will  not  suffer  water 
to  carry  away  l^jjistles  from  the  Christians,  and  because  I  will 
not  let  Water  liiiptism  be  the  rule,  the  door,  the  bolt,  the  bar, 
the  wall  of  division  between  the  righteous  and  the  righteous, 
must  I  therefore  be  judged  to  be  a  man  without  conscience  of 
the  worship  of  Jesus  Christ!'  The  Lord  deliver  mo  from 
superstitions  and  idolatrous  thoughts  about  any  of  the  ordi- 
nances of  Christ  and  of  God."  In  his  work  entitled  "The 
Heavenly  Footman,"  which  lie  left  in  MS.,  and  wliieli 
Charles  I)(je  published  ten  years  afler  his  death,  he  assorts  his 
occlesiastical  position  more  plainly.     In  tl'i'^  little  book  ho  8U}8 


238  JOSN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  x. 

to  his  reader,  "  Have  a  care  of  tliy  soul,  and  that  thou  mayest 
so  do,  take  this  counsel :  mistrust  thy  own  strength,  keep 
company  with  the  soundest  Christians  that  have  most  experi- 
ence of  Christ,  and  be  sure  that  thou  have  a  care  of  Quakers, 
Ranters,  Freewillers  :  Also  do  not  have  too  much  company 
with  some  Anabaptists,  though  I  go  under  that  name  myself." 
This  is  plain  enough.  The  only  difficulty  is  how  to  reconcile 
his  practice  with  his  declaration,  for  he  seems  to  have  had 
three  of  his  children  baptized  at  church  in  their  infancy,  as  we 
gather  from  the  register  of  the  parishes  of  Elstow  and  St. 
Cuthbert's.     The  following   are    the   extracts  in   question  : — 

Elstow  :  "  Mary,  the  daughter  of  John  Bonion,  baptized  July 
20,  1650." 

"  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  John  Bonyon,  was  born  14th  day  of 
April,  1654." 

St.  Cuthlert's,  Bedford,  1672:  ''Baptized  Joseph  Bunyan,  y"  son 
of  John  Bunyan,  Kov.  16." 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  respect  to  the  first  case,  that  of  his 
blind  daughter  Mary,  inasmuch  as  her  baptism  at  Elstow 
Church  took  place  three  years  before  he  united  himself  with 
the  brethren  at  Bedford.  The  case  is  not  so  clear  with  respect 
to  Elizabeth,  who  was  baptized  at  the  same  place  in  1654  ;  for 
John  Bunyan  joined  John  Gilford's  church  in  1653,  and  if  on 
his  admission  he  was  baptized  by  immersion,  it  is  difficult  to 
account  for  the  baptism  of  his  infant  daughter  the  following 
year  by  sprinkling.  It  will  be  pointed  out,  perhaps,  that  the 
register  notes  that  Elizabeth  Bvmvan  was  born  on  the  14th  of 
April,  and  says  nothing  about  her  baptism.  But  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  previous  year  an  Act  of  Parliament  had 
been  passed  requiring  the  date  of  birth  to  be  inserted  in  the 
register  instead  of  that  of  baptism.  There  is  a  curious  entry 
in  the  parish  register  of  Maid's  Moreton,  county  Bucks,  which 
removes  all  doubt  on  the  point : — 

"  A.D.  1653.  Now  came  in  force  a  goodly  Act  made  by  the 
Usurper  Cromwell's  little  Parliament,  who  ordered  not  the  baptism 
but  the  birth  of  children  to  be  recorded  in  the  parish  Register.  And 
though  the  baptism  of  some  be  not  expressed  here,  yet  these  are  to 
certify  all  whom  it  ma_y  concern,  and  that  on  the  word  of  a  priest, 


1672.]         THREE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY:  1(.72— lOTo.         239 

that  there  is  no  person  hereafter  mentioned  by  the  then  registers  of 
the  pai'ish  but  was  duly  and  orderly  baptized."  * 

To  show  further  that  this  Act  of  1GJ3  sufficiently  accounts  for 
the  form  of  entry  in  165-4,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  the 
Transcript  Register  from  Elstow  parish  that  year  the  name  of 
Elizabeth  Bunyan  occurs  in  a  list  of  twenty-three  children,  all 
returned  under  the  head  of  "  Christenings,"  and  that  the  word 
"  borne,"  and  not  "  baptized,"  is  used  in  every  case.  There  can 
be  little  doubt,  therefore,  that  the  year  after  John  Bunyan  joined 
the  Bedford  brotherhood  his  second  daughter,  like  his  first,  was 
baptized  at  Elstow  Church.  The  third  case,  that  of  his  son 
Joseph,  is  the  most  remarkable  of  all,  for  this  child  according 
to  the  register  was  baptized  at  St.  Cuthbert's  Church  after 
Bunyan's  twelve  years'  imprisonment  for  conscience'  sake,  and 
during  the  time  he  was  conducting  the  conti'oversy  on  open 
communion  with  D' An  vers  and  Paul.  The  fact  is  curious,  and 
can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  that  upon  the 
question  of  baptism  he  had  no  very  strong  feeling  any  way. 
In  his  reply  at  this  time  to  D'Anvers  and  Paul  he  says : — 

''You  ask  mo  next,  IIow  long  is  it  since  I  was  a  Baptist  ?  I 
must  teU  you  I  know  none  to  whom  that  title  is  so  proper  as  to  the 
disciples  of  John.  And  since  you  would  know  by  what  name  I 
wovdd  be  distinguished  from  others,  I  tell  you  I  would  bo,  and  hope 
I  am,  A  CnuisTiAX,  and  choose,  if  God  should  count  mo  wortliy,  to 
be  called  a  Christian,  a  believer,  or  other  such  name  which  is  ap- 
'  proved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  as  for  those  titles  of  Anabaptists, 
Independents,  Presbyterians,  or  the  like,  I  conclude  that  they  came  ^ 
neither  from  Jerusalem,  nor  Antioch,  but  rather  from  hell  and 
Babylon,  for  they  naturally  tend  to  divisions.  You  may  know  them 
by  their  fruits." 

His  "Confession  of  my  Faith  and  Reason  of  my  Practice"! 
touched  upon  baptism  and  the  terms  of  communion,  but  only 
in  a  subordinate  way.  It  was  written  in  the  early  part  of  1G72, 
at  the  end  of  his  imprisonment,  and  its  main  purpose  was  to 
vindicate  his  teaching,  and,  if  possible,  to  secure  liis  liberty. 
In  his  address  to  the  reader,  at  the  outset  ho  says  : — 

•  rarinh  Regiitert  in  England,  by  R.  E.  ChoMter  WhUtd,  1883,  p.  l->. 
t  A  Con/cimion  of  my  Faxlh,  and  a  Jieaaon  of  my  I'racttce  [1072 J.     No  copy  of 
tho  Firbt  Editiua  known. 


240  JOEN  BUNTAK  [chap.  x. 


it 


I  marvel  not  tliat  both,  you  and  others  do  think  my  long 
imprisonment  strange  (or,  rather,  strangely  of  me  for  the  sake  of 
that),  for  verily  I  should  also  have  done  it  myself  had  not  the  Holy 
Ghost  long  since  forbidden  me.  ...  I  have  not  hitherto  been  so 
sordid  as  to  stand  to  a  doctrine  right  or  wrong,  much  less  when  so 
weighty  an  argument  as  above  eleven  years'  imprisonment  is  con- 
tinually dogging  of  me  to  weigh  and  pause,  and  pause  again,  the 
grounds  and  foundation  of  those  principles,  for  which  I  thus  have 
suffered  ;  but  having  not  only  at  my  trial  asserted  them,  but  also 
since,  even  all  this  tedious  tract  of  time,  in  cool  blood,  a  thousand 
times,  by  the  word  of  God,  examined  them  and  found  them  good, 
I  cannot,  I  dare  not,  now  revolt  or  deny  the  same  on  pain  of  eternal 
damnation." 

Faith  and  holiness  are,  he  says,  his  professed  principles,  and  his 
endeavour  is  to  be  at  peace  with  all  men.  Here  are  his  teachings, 
let  his  enemies  judge  for  themselves  whether  there  is  anything 
that  savours  of  heresy  or  rebellion,  anything  that  renders  him 
worthy  of  almost  twelve  years'  imprisonment,  or  deserving  to  be 
hanged  or  banished  for  ever  according  to  their  tremendous  sen- 
tence. He  cannot  hold  communion  with  the  ungodly  and 
openly  profane,  and  lie  cannot  consent  that  his  soul  should  be 
governed  in  any  of  his  approaches  to  God  by  the  superstitious 
inventions  of  this  world.  With  this  exception,  for  which  he 
does  not  think  he  ought  to  be  rebuked,  spite  of  slander  and 
falsehood,  he  shall  always  show  himself  a  peaceable  and 
obedient  subject.  "But,"  he  adds  finely,  "if  nothing  will  do 
unless  I  make  of  my  conscience  a  continual  butchery  and 
slaughter- shop,  unless  putting  out  my  own  eyes,  I  commit  me 
to  the  blind  to  lead  me,  as  I  doubt  not  is  desired  by  some,  I 
have  determined,  the  Almighty  God  being  my  help  and  shield, 
yet  to  suffer,  if  frail  life  might  continue  so  long,  even  till  the 
moss  shall  grow  on  mine  eyebrows,  rather  than  thus  to  violate 
my  faith  and  principles." 

In  this  Confession  of  his  he  sets  forth  his  belief  in  the 
main  doctrines  of  Scripture,  and  it  is  only  towards  the  end  that 
he  touches  upon  the  question  of  baptism  and  the  terms  of  com- 
munion. It  was  this  latter  part  which  led  to  the  controversy 
with  D'Anvers,  and  to  the  appearance  in  1673  of  Bunyan's 
reply,  entitled  "  Differences  in  Judgment  about  Water  Baptism 


1G74.]         THREE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY:  1672—1075.         211 

no  bar  to  Communion,"*  and  of  his  rejoinder  in  1G74,  under  the 
title,  "  Peaceable  Principles  and  True."  f  lie  had  no  great 
likinp:  for  controversy,  least  of  all  on  the  subject  of  baptism. 
He  would  not,  he  says,  have  set  pen  to  paper  upon  the  question 
but  for  those  continual  assaults  which  for  the  last  eighteen 
years  the  brethren  of  the  rigid  way  had  made  not  only  upon 
the  congregation  at  Bedford  to  rend  it,  but  also  upon  many 
others  about  them.  He  thinks  it  childish  and  carnal  to  divide 
a  church  on  such  mere  matters  of  ritual.  "  You  must  know  I 
am  still  of  that  mind,  and  shall  be  so  long  as  I  see  the  effects 
that  follow,  viz.,  the  breach  of  love,  taking  off  Christians  from 
the  more  weighty  things  of  God,  and  to  make  them  quarrel 
and  have  heartburnings  one  against  another."  With  such 
words  as  these  he  left  this  dispute  and  these  disputants,  never, 
so  far  as  we  know,  to  return  to  them  again. 

It  was  soon  after  this  war  with  D'Anvers  and  Paul  that 
there  came  into  Bunyan's  life  the  painful  episode  narrated  in 
the  experience  of  Agnes  Beaumont,  and  related  by  herself  + 
She  gives  no  dates  in  her  story,  but  the  mention  of  the  death 
of  her  father  enables  us  by  the  help  of  the  Edworth  register  to 
fix  the  time  as  the  month  of  February,  1G74.  The  story  is  as 
follows :  In  those  days,  and  in  a  farmhouse  still  pointed  out, 
there  lived  at  Edworth,  a  village  on  the  Bedfordshire  border 
towards  Hertfordshire,  a  farmer  named  John  Beamont  or 
Beaumont.  He  was  widowed,  and  his  unmarried  daughter 
Agnes,  then  in  her  twenty-first  year,  kept  his  house,  a  married 
son  and  a  married  daughter  living  at  adjacent  farms  in  the 
parish.     The  whole  family  had  at  one  time  felt  the  influence  of 

•  D\fffrenre»  in  Jiidymmt  about  Water  Baptinn,  no  Bar  to  Communion  :  or  to 
Communicato  with  Sjiintfl,  a«  Saints,  proved  I>uw(ul.  By  John  IJiiiiyan.  London  : 
Print«d  for  John  Wilkins,  and  uro  to  bo  wdd  iit  his  Shop  in  Exchiinpo  Alloy, 
next  door  to  the  Exi  haiii,'o  ColTuo  lloiwo,  over  iis^iii'st  tho  Koyjil  Ex(lmnt,'o, 
1073. 

t  Prnffahh  I'miriplm  and  True  :  or  ii  I'riff  Aiisw.  r  to  "Mr.  TVAnvir'H  and  Mr. 
Paul's  li<f>kn  Jif^iiimt  my  Confi-Hdion  of  Kiiilh,  iind  Iiiffi-nnceH  in  Jiui^.m  iit  alx-ul 
Ikiptiiim  no  Bar  to  Communion.  Whcn.'in  thoir  ScripturoioM  notions  uro  over- 
thrown, and  my  Poucvablo  rrinciples  Htill  miiinUtined.  No  copy  of  Eimt  Edition 
known. 

J  Aiidl.  ^fSS.  2414.  Narmtivo  of  tho  Pi-nii-ciition  of  Affii<?«  Bonumont. 
Tlii)i  .M.S.,  in  th*-  Britinh  ^fiiwum,  if  not  in  iho  actual  luiadwriting  of  Ayneii,  in 
oriduntly  a  cont4L-ui|><irury  ducumont. 

K 


242  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  x. 

the  Nonconformist  preachers.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  had  been 
sufferers  for  conscience'  sake,  as  we  gather  from  William 
Foster's  "  Act-Book,"  where  it  is  recorded  that  John  Beaumont 
the  son,  with  his  wife  Elizabeth,  were  presented  by  the  church- 
wardens of  Edworth  at  the  Court  of  the  Archdeaconry  held  at 
Bedford  in  the  spring  of  1669,  for  refusing  to  come  to  the  sac- 
rament at  the  parish  church  the  previous  Easter,  and  were  fined 
accordingly.  John  Beaumont,  the  father,  had  himself  been 
more  than  once  deeply  moved  under  Bunyan's  own  preaching. 
"  Some  time  before,"  says  Agnes,  "  my  father  had  heard  him 
preach  God's  word,  and  heard  him  with  a  broken  heart,  as  he 
had  several  others,  and  afterwards  would  cry  to  the  Lord  in 
secret  as  well  as  I."  But  by-and-by  some  Edworth  neighbour, 
who  had  great  ascendancy  over  him,  contrived  to  turn  his  mind 
against  the  meetings  and  the  preachers,  and  especially  against 
Bunyan  himself.  His  daughter  Agnes  had,  however,  joined 
the  Bedford  Church  at  Gamlingay  in  December,  1672,  the 
account  of  her  admission  being  the  first  entry  made  in  the 
church  book  in  Bunyan's  handwriting  after  he  became 
pastor,  he  himself  also  inscribing  her  name  in  the  church 
roll,  spelling  it  thus  —  Agniss  Behemont.  In  February, 
1674,  she  was  anxious  to  be  present  at  a  meeting  of  the 
church  to  be  held  at  Gamlingay.  With  much  reluctance 
her  father  gave  his  consent,  she  going  over  in  the  morning 
to  her  brother's  house,  to  join  him  and  others  on  the  journey. 
Here  an  unexpected  difficulty  arose ;  John  Wilson  with 
whom  it  had  been  arranged  she  should  ride  to  Gamlingay, 
for  some  reason  failed  to  come;  the  February  roads  were 
impassable  on  foot,  and  the  only  horse  that  could  be  spared 
from  the  work  of  the  farm  was  to  carry  her  brother  and 
his  wife,  pillion-wise,  to  the  meeting.  In  the  midst  of 
this  perplexity  Bunyan  himself  unexpectedly  rode  up  on 
his  way  thither  also,  and  was  asked  to  take  up  Agnes  behind 
him.  Knowing  the  elder  Beaumont's  feeling  he  hesitated. 
"  Your  father  will  be  grievous  angry,"  said  he,  "  if  I  should." 
Overcome  at  length,  however,  by  her  entreaties  he  started, 
taking  her  with  him.  From  a  distant  field  the  old  man 
saw  them  together,  a  sight  at  which  his  anger  knew  no 
bounds.     He  was  too  far  away  to  prevent  their  going  ;  but  on 


1674.^         THREE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY:  1672—1675.  243 

her  return  Agnes  found  the  door  of  her  home  relentlessly 
bolted  against  her,  her  father  from  within  refusing  to  open  till 
she  would  promise  to  break  with  these  people  and  all  their  ways. 
That  cold  February  night,  wrapped  in  her  riding-dross,  she 
spent  in  the  barn.  Next  morning,  her  father  being  still  inex- 
orable, she  crossed  the  fields  to  her  brother's  house,  remaining 
there  till  the  following  Sunday,  when,  after  much  exercise  of 
mind  and  in  deep  anguish  of  spirit,  she  yielded  to  her  father's 
will,  and  returned  to  her  home.  She  had  only  been  back  two 
days,  when  on  the  Tuesday,  as  they  were  alone  in  the  house 
together,  her  flither  was  strangely,  fatally  seized,  and  suddenly 
died. 

That  same  day,  as  she  was  bending  over  the  dying  man,  a 
clergyman  named  Lane  was  busy  sending  forth  a  scandalous 
story  at  Baldock  Market  concerning  Bunyan  and  herself.   This 
man,  though   preaching  at    Edworth,   lived  at    Bedford,  and 
therefore  knew  them  both,   and  had  recognised  them  riding 
together  "  at  Gamlingay  town-end."     His  story,  and  that  of 
John  Beaumont's  strange  and  unexpected  death,  now  went  forth 
together.     It  was  known  that  there  had  been  bitter  difference 
between   father   and    daughter,  followed  by  tardy  and    quite 
recent  reconciliation  ;  there  needed  but  one  stroke  of  malignant 
ingenuity  to  complete  the  whole.     This  was  furnished   by   a 
neighbouring  lawyer  named  Farrow,  who,  writhing  under  the 
recent  rejection  of  his  suit  by  Agnes,  gave  forth  that  she  had 
poisoned  her  father,  and  that  Bunyan  had  furnished  her  with 
the  means  of  doing  it.     The  whole  parish  was  in  commotion, 
the  funeral  deferred,  and  the  coroner  called.     For  those  mcst 
deeply  concerned  it  was  a  time  of  painful  anxiety.      '*  I  did  not 
know,"  writes  Agnes,  "how  far  God  miglit  sulYir  this  man  and 
the  devil  to  go.     It  also  troubled  me  to  think  that   in  case  1 
suffered,  another  as  innocent  as  myself  must  suffer  too,"  refer- 
ring, of  course,  to  Bunyan  and  his  implication  in  the  charge  ; 
"  but  the  Lord    knew  our  innocency   in    this   alfair,    both  in 
thought,  and  word,  and  deed." 

Under  official  investigation  the  cruel  diarge  camo  to  nothing. 
Comparatively  rude  us  was  tlie  medical  science  of  tiiose 
duyn,  it  was  hufheicnt  to  show  that  thctugli  J<ihn  Beaumont's 
dcutb  was  painfully  sudden,  it  was  yet  bimply  natural.     The 

k2 


244  JOBN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  x. 

innocent,  therefore,  were  acquitted,  and  their  accusers  covered 
with  shame.  Agnes  outlived  this  anxious  time  by  nearly  fifty 
years,  dying  at  Highgate  in  1720.  In  compliance  with  her  own 
request  she  was  brought  to  be  buried  in  the  graveyard  of  the 
Tilehouse  Street  Chapel  at  Hitchin,  where  an  inscription  keeps 
up  her  memory  and  the  remembrance  of  her  story. 

It  was  probably  after  this  painful  incident  that  Bunyan 
added  to  his  "  Grace  Abounding  "  that  passage  of  vindication 
not  found  in  the  first  edition  of  1G66,  but  which  does  occur  in 
the  next  edition  we  happen  to  have,  the  eighth,  which  appeared 
in  1688 — probably  also  in  editions  intervening — in  which  he 
says  : — 

"  It  was  reported  with  the  boldest  confidence  that  I  had  my  Misses, 
my  Whores,  my  Bastards,  yea,  two  Wives  at  once,  and  the  like.  My 
foes  have  missed  their  mark  in  this  their  shooting  at  me.  I  am  not  the 
man.  I  wish  that  they  themselves  be  guiltless.  If  all  the  Fornicators 
and  Adulterers  in  England  were  hanged  by  the  neck  till  they  be  dead, 
John  Bunyan,  the  object  of  their  envy,  would  still  be  alive  and  well. 
I  bind  these  lies  and  slander  to  me  as  an  ornament ;  it  belongs  to 
my  Christian  profession  to  be  vilified,  slandered,  reproached,  and 
reviled ;  and  since  all  this  is  nothing  else,  as  my  God  and  my 
conscience  do  bear  me  witness,  I  rejoice  in  reproaches  for  Christ's 
sake." 

In  the  year  1675,  after  publishing  his  "  Peaceable  Princi- 
ples and  True,"  he  sent  forth  another  work  also  entitled 
"  Light  for  them  that  sit  in  Darkness."  Between  these  two,  as 
being  about  the  same  time,  though  without  date,  Charles  Doe 
places  in  his  Catalogue  of  Bunyan's  writings  a  work  entitled 
"  Reprobation  Asserted,  or  the  Doctrine  of  Eternal  Election 
promiscuously  handled."  It  professes  on  the  title-page  to  be 
"  by  John  Bunyan,  of  Bedford,  a  lover  of  Peace  and  Truth,"  and 
Doe  coming  across  this  little  quarto  accepted  it  as  genuine.  In 
this  I  venture  to  think  he  was  mistaken,  as  he  might  very  well 
be  in  reference  to  a  book  published  several  years  before  his 
personal  acquaintance  with  Bunyan  began.  There  were 
certainly  four  other  books  passed  ofi"  falsely  in  Bunyan's  name, 
for  the  purpose  of  trading  upon  his  popularity,  it  is  therefore 
not  incredible  that  there  was  a  fifth,  provided  there  are  sufii- 
ciently  strong  reasons  to  point  to  such  a  conclusion.     There 


1675.]         THREE  YEAIiS  OF  LIBERTY:   1072—1675.         21 J 

seem  to  be  such  reasons  in  the  case  of  this  book  on  Reprobation. 
For,  to  take  the  external  evidence  first,  it  was  printed  in  diffe- 
rent form  from  the  rest  of  his  works,  and  the  imprint,  which  is 
peculiar,  is  given  thus  :  London :  Printed  fur  G.  L.,  and  are 
to  he  sold  in  Turnstile-alleij  in  Jlolhourn.  The  initials  were 
probably  intended  to  suggest  the  name  of  George  Larkin,  but 
it  was  this  publisher's  custom  to  print  his  name  in  full  upon 
each  title-page  and  his  place  of  business  was  not  in  Turn- 
stile Alley,  but  at  the  sign  of  the  Two  Swans,  Without  Bishop- 
gate.  Further,  the  book  in  question  did  not  appear  in  any  of 
the  three  collected  editions  of  Bunyan's  writings,  bearing  date 
1692,  1736-7,  and  1774.  It  was  not  till  1780  that  Alexander 
Hogg  published  it  for  the  first  time  with  the  rest  of  Bunyan's 
productions  as  genuine.  This  he  did  in  the  collection  issued 
by  him  and  edited  by  Mason  and  Eyland.  Then,  when  we  pass 
to  look  at  the  book  itself,  to  anal}  so  its  spirit  and  substance  we 
feel  at  once  that  it  is  in  altogether  a  different  key  from  what  we 
are  accustomed  to.  It  neither  begins  nor  ends  in  Bunyan's 
characteristic  fashion,  nor  is  there  in  it  a  single  touch  to 
remind  us  of  his  own  peculiar  vein.  Let  him  write  on  what 
subject  he  may,  he  writes  not  long  before  he  either  melts  with 
tenderness  or  glows  with  fire.  This  writer  never  deviates  into 
anything  of  the  kind.  lie  is  hard  and  cold  in  style,  thin  in 
scheme  and  substance,  and  he  is  what  Banyan  never  was — 
pitiless  in  logic,  without  being  truly  logical.  This  book,  I 
think,  we  may  safely  leave  out  of  the  record,  and  go  on  our 
way. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  a  genuine  work  of  Bun- 
yan's, entitled  "  Light  for  them  that  sit  in  Darkness,"*  came 
out  in  1670.  It  is  a  discourse  upcui  the  doctrine  of  the  person, 
deeds,  and  sufferings  of  Christ,  it  is  therefore  a  diseourse  into 
which  he  put  liis  whole  heart.  "  Ktader,"  says  he,  "  hear  me 
patiently.  I  have  presented  thee  with  that  which  I  have 
received  from  God.  I  know  it  to  be  the  way  of  salvation.  I 
have  ventured  my  own  soul  thereon  with   gladness;  and    if  all 

•  Light  for  (hem  that  »tt  in  T>nrknf»ii  :  or  ii  1  >iHi oiirHo  of  Jt-miH  CliriHt  :  and 
That  ho  undiTt<iok  to  accoinpliiih  l>y  hiiiinulf  the  Klorii.il  Iti'ilomiitioii  of  (tiimtrH. 
Hy  John  liunyan.  London  :  Fmneii  Smith,  1075.  Copio*  of  tho  Fimt  Kditiun 
in  tbo  Bodli-iiin,  and  in  thu  liunyan  Collection  at  Bedford. 


246  JOHN  BTINYAN.  [chap.  x. 

tlie  souls  in  the  world  were  mine  as  mine  own  soul  is,  I  would, 
through  God's  grace,  venture  every  one  of  them  there.  I 
have  not  writ  at  a  venture,  nor  borrowed  my  doctrine  from 
libraries.  I  depend  upon  the  sayings  of  no  man.  I  found  it 
in  the  scriptures  of  truth,  among  the  true  sayings  of  God." 
The  book  is  the  expansion  of  a  sermon  preached  from  the  text — 
"  Of  this  man's  seed  hath  God  according  to  His  promise  raised 
unto  Israel  a  Saviour  Jesus."  It  dwells  upon  the  promise 
which  lighted  up  pre-Christian  times,  and  upon  the  way  the 
promise  was  fulfilled  in  Christ  when  the  hour  was  ripe.  It 
sets  forth  how  the  Saviour  addressed  Himself  to  the  work  of 
our  Redemption,  taking  upon  Him  our  nature,  being  made  under 
the  law,  taking  upon  Him  also  our  sins,  and  being  made  a  curse 
for  us.  The  writer  then  passes  to  a  series  of  nine  demonstra- 
tions conclusively  showing  that  Christ  really  ransomed  the 
souls  of  sinners  by  His  great  work,  and  obtained  eternal 
redemption  for  them.  The  proof  of  this  great  fact  is  seen  in  that 
He  was  raised  from  the  dead,  that  He  was  received  up  into 
heaven,  that  He  sent  forth  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  the 
preaching  of  His  gospel  has  from  that  time  to  this  been  a 
mighty  conqueror  over  all  kinds  of  sinners,  that  it  has  brought 
peace  and  holiness  into  the  souls  of  men.  Further,  our  prayers 
are  now  accepted  of  God  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  we  are 
commanded  to  give  thanks  in  His  name,  are  exhorted  to  look 
to  His  second  coming  for  the  full  and  glorious  enjoyment  of 
our  redemption,  and  finally  the  threatenings  of  God  have 
gone  forth  against  those  who  shall  refuse  to  be  saved  by  Him. 
He  then  sets  forth  the  practical  uses  of  these  great  teachings, 
in  discovering  to  us  the  glorious  attributes  of  God,  and  our  own 
weakness  and  need,  and  in  sustaining  the  tried  and  tempted. 
For  indeed  the  tempted  have  sore  need  of  sustenance.  "  O, 
the  toil  of  a  truly  gracious  heart  in  this  combat !  If  faith  be 
weak  he  can  scarce  get  higher  than  his  knees ;  Lord  help  ! 
Lord  save  !  and  then  down  again,  till  an  arm  from  heaven  takes 
him  up,  until  Jesus  Christ  be  evidently  set  forth  crucified  for 
him,  and  cursed  for  his  sin  !  " 

While  thus  earnestly  plying  his  pen  as  a  writer  Bunyan  was 
also  earnestly  making  use  of  his  newly  acquired  liberty  as 
pastor  and  preacher.      Indeed  he  seems  to  have  been  too  busy 


1GT2.]        THREE  YEARS   OF  LIBERTY:  1072— 1GT5.  247 

to  keep  any  records  of  his  busy  life.  The  minutes  of  the 
church's  proceedings  during  the  time  he  was  pastor  are  com- 
paratively scanty.  Of  the  twenty  folio  pages  tmbracing  these 
sixteen  years,  only  about  five  were  in  his  own  handwriting, 
three  others  were  left  blank  to  be  filled  up  afterwards  which, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  never  were,  and  the  remainder  were  in 
the  handwriting  of  other  officers  of  the  church.  Some  of  the 
I)roceedings  during  the  time  of  renewed  persecution  were 
evidently  entered  up  from  memory  afterwards,  and  irregularly 
kept.  The  following  are  the  only  entries  that  need  detain  us 
between  1672  and  1675.  Three  weeks  after  Bunyan's  accept- 
ance of  the  pastorate,  that  is,  on  the  10th  of  February,  1672, 

"It  was  agreed  upon  that  the  16th  of  tliis  instant  should  be  set 
apart  for  seeking  God  by  prayer  with  fasting  for  our  children  aud 
camaU  relations,  and  for  the  tempted  and  afflicted,  and  for  the 
Lord's  blessing  upon  y'  ministery  ;  and  that  there  be  in  each  part  of 
the  congregation,  viz.  :  as  well  at  Haues  aud  Gamlinghay  us  here, 
not  only  at  the  time  aforementioned,  but  mouetbly,  one  day  in  a 
moneth  observed. 

"25th  of  the  4th  moneth  [25th  July]:  It  was  ordered  that  a 
brief  confession  of  faith  bee  drawno  up  by  the  elders  and  gifted 
brethren  of  the  congregation  against  the  next  meeting,  that  after 
the  Cliurches  approbation  thereof  it  may  be  propounded  to  all  that 
sliall  hereafter  give  up  themselves  to  y*  Lord  and  to  us  by  the  will 
of  Go<l,  and  tlieir  unfeigned  consent  thereto  required.  Tlioro  was 
ul.so  appointed  a  meeting  for  prayer  for  our  children  and  relations. 

"  2*Jth  of  the  Gth  moneth  [2'Jtli  Sept.],  1072  :  The  matter  heretofore 
propounded  concerning  y*  drawing  up  of  a  brief  confession  of  faith, 
&e.,  was  omitted  by  reason  of  brother  IJunyan's  absence.  There 
was  also  deputed  to  go  to  y*  meeting  of  y*  messengers  of  tlio  ud- 
jucent  congregations,  wliicli  was  appointed  at  Stadgedon,  the  elders. 
Mr.  Waite,  Mr.  Whitbread,  and  brother  Man." 

The  following  passages  are  in  Bunyan's  handwriting,  the  one 
relating  to  John  Ituah  being  characteristically  vigorous: — 

"Gandinghay,  tho  .'JlKt  of  the  8th  monotli  [.'list  query,  HOth  ? 
Nov.]  :  Tho  desire  of  Sister  Bohomont  to  walko  in  follow.sliip  \\'\\\\ 
ufl  was  propounded  aud  [slict]  was  received  at  the  n»«.\t  Ohunlj 
meeting. 

"  At  u  full  as.sei'.iljly  of  the  (Jougregation  wa.s  with  joynt  consent 


248  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  x. 

of  the  wliole  body,  cast  out  of  the  Church,  John  Rush,  of  Bedford, 
for  being  drunk  after  a  very  beastly  and  filthy  maner,  that  is  above 
the  ordenery  rate  of  drunkerds,  for  he  could  not  be  carried  home 
from  the  Swan  to  his  own  house  without  the  help  of  no  less  than 
three  persons  who,  when  they  had  brought  him  home,  could  not 
present  him  as  one  alive  to  his  familie  he  was  so  dead  drunke. 
This  assembly  of  the  Chuxch  was  held  the  25th  day  of  the  second 
month  [25th  May]. 

"At  the  same  meeting  there  was  propounded  the  desire  of  these 
friends  to  joyne  in  fellowship  with  us,  to  witt,  Thomas  Bmiyan, 
Sister  AVard.  It  was  desired  by  the  Church  at  Hitchin  that  this 
congregation  would  give  up  to  them  our  brother  Nehemiah  Cox  in 
order  to  the  exercise  of  the  office  of  an  Elder  or  pastor  with  them  : 
the  which  the  congregation  concluded  to  take  into  consideration. 

"At  an  assembly  of  the  congregation  on  the  6th  of  the  4th 
month  [6th  July,  1673],  was  received  into  fi'ellowship  our  brother 
Thomas  Bunyan  and  our  Sister  Wheeler. 

"  Concluded  that  the  14th  day  of  this  month  be  kept  as  a  day  of 
humiliation  and  praire  upon  several  weighty  accounts. 

"An  assembly  of  this  congregation  was  held  at  Edworth  the  3rd 
of  the  8th  month  [3rd  Nov.]. 

"  At  a  Church  meeting  at  Gamblingay  the  18th  of  the  8th  month 
[18th  Nov.],  was  cast  out  of  the  Church  the  wife  of  our  brother 
Witt,  for  railling  and  other  wicked  practises.  Concluded  that 
som  dayes  be  sett  appart  for  humiliation  with  fasting  and  prayer  to 
God  because  of  som  disorders  amongst  som  in  the  congregation, 
specialy  for  that  som  have  run  into  debt  more  than  they  can 
satisfie,  to  the  great  dishoner  of  God  and  scandall  of  religion. 

"  1674.  A  Church  meeting  was  holden  at  Bedford  the  10th  of  the 
2nd  month  [10th  May],  to  pray  to  God  to  bless  admonition  upon 
four  in  the  congregation  that  had  transgressed. 

"  At  the  same  meeting  also,  the  Church  was  told  that  our  Sister 
Landy  had  bin  admonished  for  withdrawing  communion  againe,  for 
countenancing  Card-play,  and  for  deceiving  the  Church  with  her 
former  seeming  repentance.  At  the  same  meeting  the  Church  was 
told  that  our  Sister  Elizabeth  Maxey  had  bin  admonished  for  dis- 
obedience to  her  parents,  to  witt,  for  calling  her  father  lier,  and  for 
wicked  carriages  to  her  mother. 

"  On  the  7th  of  the  3rd  month  [7th  June]  was  a  meeting  of  the 
Congregation  holden  at  Gotten  End,  wher  was  a  relation  made  of 
severall  acts  of  the  Church,  there  also  our  Brother  Nehemiah  Coxe 
did  publickly  make  an  acknowledgment  of  several  miscaridges  by 
him  committed,   and  declared  his  repentance  for  the  same;  and 


1674.]        THREE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY:  1C.T2— lOTo.  249 

because  he  had  bin  fault}'  in  such  thinp:s  heretofore,  therefore  it 
Avas  desired  by  some  of  tlie  lirethrou  :  Tliat  tlio  fonn  of  his  submittinc^ 
slioidd  be  presented  to  us  in  writeing,  wliich  it  accordingly  was,  and 
■was  as  followeth  :  A\Tiereas  several  words  and  practises  have  bin 
uttered  and  performed  by  me  that  might  justly  be  construed  to  have 
a  tendencie  to  make  rents  and  devisions  in  the  congregation  I  doe 
declare  myself e  imfeiguedly  repentant  and  sorry  for  the  same. 
Ne.  Coxe. 

"At  the  same  meeting,  singing  of  Psalmes  was  propounded  to 
the  Congregation,  also  that  the  Congregation  at  Ilitchin  intreated 
that  the  Church  would  consent  to  give  up  our  Brother  Wilson  to 
them  to  be  chosen  to  office  by  them. 

"  At  a  Church  meeting  holdenat  Gamblingay  the  18th  of  the  3rd 
month  [18th  June]  was  our  Sister  Landey  withdrawn  from.  The 
causes  were  for  that  she  had  withdrawn  communion  from  the  saints, 
had  dispised  gifts  in  the  Church,  had  taught  her  children  to  play  at 
cards,  and  remained  impenitent  after  several  admonitions. 

"At  a  Church  meeting  holden  at  Bedford  the  2yth  of  the  3rd 
moneth  [29th  June]  was  our  sister  Ehz.  Burntwood  openly  rebuked 
for  her  immodest  company  keeping  with  carnal  and  light  young 
fellows  at  Elstow. 

"  Ordered  that  a  letter  be  sent  to  that  Church  of  whom  Brotlim' 
Jesse  once  was  pastor,  to  know  whether  it  be  their  Church  principle 
still  to  hold  communion  with  saints  as  saints,  though  dilt'ering  in 
judgment  about  watter  Baptizm,  that  we  may  the  better  know 
what  to  doe  as  to  our  Sister  Martha  Cumberland  as  to  her 
j^n-ning  witli  them  or  not.  At  the  same  time,  John  Overhand  was 
mentioned  to  bo  joynod  in  fellowship  with  us,  but  considering  that 
upon  several  accounts  liis  life  of  profession  liath  not  bin  accom- 
panied witli  that  holyness  as  becomes  the  gospel  it  was  concluded 
ou  the  negative." 

These  entries,  made  in  1G74,  are  tlic  hist  in  llunyan's  liand- 
writing  till  wo  come  to  the  year  l(J7cS,  inqjortant  events  as  wo 
tshall  see  taking  place  in  the  interval.  From  the  minutes  tlius 
given,  and  still  more  from  the  mere  entries  of  the  reception  of 
members,  which  have  been  omitted,  it  wouhl  appear  that  tlie 
church  under  JJunyan's  care  was  a  widespread  community  of 
believers,  drawing  some  of  its  members  from  Ashwell  in  Herts., 
und  Gamlingay  in  Cambridgeshire,  as  well  as  from  far  out- 
lying villages  in  Bedfordshire  on  all  sides.  The  oversight  of 
this  brotherhood   involved  much  going  to  and  Iro  on  the  part 


250  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  x. 

of  the  pastor  who  preached  in  towns  and  villages  by  the  way 
far  and  near.  Bishop  Bunyan,  as  partly  in  jest  and  partly  in 
earnest  lie  came  to  be  called,  bad  a  large  diocese,  and  one  could 
have  wished  that  be  bad  kept  sucb  a  journal  of  bis  experiences 
as  bis  great  contemporary,  George  Fox,  kept  in  tbat  century, 
or  Jobn  Wesley  in  tbe  next,  giving  vivid  pictures  of  tbe  men 
be  met,  of  tbe  scenes  in  whicb  be  took  part,  and  of  tbe  times 
tbat  passed  over  bim.  Traditions  of  tbe  man  linger  in  places 
about  whicb  be  himself  is  silent,  as  silent  be  was  about  most 
things  in  bis  outward  life.  It  is  said,  for  example,  tbat  tbe 
Congregational  Cburcb  at  Jobn  Street,  Royston,  was  founded 
by  William  Bedford,  a  Cambridge  student,  who  was  converted 
to  God  tbrougb  stopping  to  bear  Jobn  Bunyan  preach  at  Mel- 
bourn  near  by,*  At  Coleman  Green,  too,  a  small  bamlet  in 
tbe  parisb  of  Sandridge,  near  St.  Albans,  some  cottages  are 
pointed  out  wbere  be  is  said  to  bave  preached,  possibly  during 
some  of  tbe  journeys  be  made  to  London.  On  tbe  old  ivy- 
covered  cbimney  there  has  been  fixed  this  inscription,  "  John 
Bunyan  is  said  by  tradition  to  bave  preached,  and  occasionally 
to  bave  lodged  in  tbe  cottage  of  which  tbis  cbimney  was  a 
part."  t  In  those  days  of  persecution  there  was  a  congregation 
of  Nonconformists  at  Kensworth,  in  Hertfordshire,  whicb  was 
central  to  a  wide  district  sx*iending  soutbward  to  Hemel  Hemp- 
stead and  St.  Albans,  northward  to  Luton,  Tilswortb,  Hougbton 
Regis,  and  Dunstable,  and  eastward  to  Hitcbin  and  Baldock. 
In  1675  tbis  cburcb  numbered  as  many  as  tbree  hundred  and 
eighty  members,  nineteen  of  whom  were  residents  in  Luton.  It 
was  about  tbis  date  tbat  tbese  Luton  brethren  separated  from 
the  Kenswortb  Cburcb  and  formed  tbemselves  into  an  inde- 
pendent community,  worshipping  secretly  in  an  apartment  in 
tbe  roof  of  tbe  old  house  of  tbe  Dallow  Farm,  tbe  trap-door  of 
tbe  apartment  being  still  to  be  seen.  In  tbat  secret  cbamber 
tradition  reports  tbat  Bunyan  often  preacbed  to  tbese  early 
Nonconformists  in  days  when  tbe  vigilance  of  spies  necessitated 
bis  coming  and  going  in  disguise,  or  under  cover  of  tbe  dark- 
ness of  night.  Eastward,  too,  in  tbe  direction  of  Hitcbin,  tbe 
tradition  of  bis  visits  is  even  stronger  still.  About  tbree  miles 
from  tbe  town  stood  in  those  days  tbe  country  bouse  known  as 
*  Urwick's  Nonconformity  in  Herts,  p.  814.  f  -fi'i^-j  P-  215. 


1GT4.]        THREE  YEARS  OF  LIBERTY:  1ST2— 1S75.  251 

Tlunsdon  House,  and  afterwards  as  Preston  Castle,  which  with 
its  pleasant  gardens  and  shrubberies  has  long  since  disappeared. 
It  may  be  mentioned  by  the  way  that  some  thirty  years  after 
Bunvan's  time,  it  was  in  the  possession  of  a  certain  Captain 
Hinde,  who  was  a  quaint  compound  of  the  old  soldier  and  the 
country  gentleman,  and  who  is  generally  recognised  as  the 
original  of  the  character  of  Uncle  Toby  in  "  Tristram  Shandy." 
This  worthy  seems  to  have  amused  his  neighbours,  and  kept  up 
his  own  military  memories  by  surrounding  his  house  with  forti- 
fications, giving  it  an  embattled  front,  and  summoning  his 
labourers  from  the  harvest-field  by  bugle  call. 

Within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  gateway  to  Preston 
Castle,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  thick  wood  which  bordered  the 
Castle  meadows,  and  is  known  as  Wainwood,  there  was  a  green 
space,  forming  a  sort  of  natural  amphitheatre,  which  has  come 
to  be  called  Bunyan's  Dell.  It  is  capable  of  holding  several 
hundred  people,  and  here  while  the  loneliness  of  the  wood 
sheltered  them  from  their  enemies,  and  friendly  scouts  kept 
watch  on  every  side,  Bunyan  often  preached  to  the  people  the 
word  of  life.  There  were  those  living  near  who  were  in  earnest 
sympathy  with  him.  "We  find  from  the  records  that  the  house 
of  Widow  Heath,  in  Preston,  Hartfordshire,  was  licensed  for  a 
Congregational  meeting-place  on  the  2nd  of  May,  1G72,  and 
that  a  licence  was  granted  to  Thomas  Milway  to  be  congrega- 
tional teacher  there.  At  Hunsdon  House  also  there  were  then 
living  six  brothers  of  the  name  of  Foster,  staunch  and  true 
men,  whose  descendants  likewise  have  many  of  them  both  in 
that  county  and  in  the  three  counties  adjacent,  borne  honoured 
names  in  the  annals  of  Nonconformity.  These  six  brothers 
were  among  those  who  for  conscience'  sake  risked  the  spoiling 
of  goods  and  the  loss  of  liberty.  In  the  stormy  times  passing 
over  them,  their  house  was  the  asylum  of  the  persecuted,  and 
among  the  friends  from  a  distance  there  was  no  guest  more 
frequent  or  more  welcome  at  their  fireside  than  Bunyan  him- 
self. These  dwellers  in  Preston  formed  the  nucleus  of  the 
greater  gatherings  in  Wainwood  Dell,  to  which  when  liunyan 
liappened  to  bo  the  preacher  the  people  camo  from  all  the 
country  round.  The  tradition  of  those  secret  assemblies,  whi'ro 
because    they  met   at  their   peril,  earnest    men  sent   up   tlieir 


252 


JOHN  BUN  YAK 


[chap. 


prayers  with  strong  crying  and  tears  and  listened  to  the 
truth  of  God  as  those  who  hungered  for  bread,  has  come  down 
unbroken  to  our  own  times.  There  is  a  soul  of  good  in  things 
evil,  and  the  memories  of  those  anxious  days  have  appealed  to 
the  imagination  and  sympathy  of  every  generation  since ;  have 
deepened  the  love  of  liberty,  and  made  more  precious  to  thou- 
sands the  truth  their  fathers  loved  so  well,  and  for  which  they 
suffered  so  much. 


Bunyan's  Jug. 

[^Presented  to  the  Bumjati  Collection  by  Mrs.  Poore,  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  S.  Hillyard.l 


XI. 

THE  "PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS." 

"  As  I  walked  through  the  wilderness  of  this  world  I  lip;hted 
upon  a  certain  place  where  was  a  Den,  and  I  laid  me  down  in 
that  place  to  sleep  ;  and  as  I  slept  I  dreamed  a  dream."  These 
words,  which  open  for  us  the  story  of  the  Pilgrim,  suggest 
to  the  majority  of  its  readers  the  culminating  point  of  interest 
in  Bunyan's  life.  It  may  be  well,  therefore,  to  try  to  settle,  if 
we  can,  the  place  of  the  den  and  the  time  of  the  dream. 

That  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress "  was  written  in  prison  we 
have  on  the  highest  authority  of  all,  that  of  Bunj^an  himself. 
When  the  third,  which  was  the  first  complete,  edition  of  the 
book  appeared  in  1G79,  by  the  side  of  the  word  "  den  "  in  the 
text  he  placed  the  explanatory  words  "  the  Jail  "  in  the  margin. 
This  evidence  is  of  course  conclusive,  even  if  we  had  not,  as  we 
liave,  contemporary  testimony  to  the  effect  that  the  Dream 
was  a  prison  book.  But  the  inquiry  is  not  without  interest  as 
to  what  gaol  it  was  and  to  what  imprisonment  these  words  refer. 
As  previously  mentioned,  it  has  become  one  of  the  common- 
places of  literature  that  the  great  allegory  was  written  during 
Jiunyan's  twelve  years'  imprisunment.  If  so,  it  was  written 
in  the  c(junty  gaol,  for,  as  we  have  seen,  the  evidence  is  con- 
clu.sive  that  the  writer  could  not  have  spent  twelve  years  in 
the  pri.son  on  Bedford  bridge  ;  yet  on  the  other  hand  the  old  tra- 
dition, which  had  como  down  from  most  reliable  authorities, 
confidently  asserted  that  Bunyan  was  confined  in  the  prison  on 
the  bridge  and  that  he  there  wrote  tlie  "  I'ilgrim's  Progress."  Is 
there  any  way  of  reconciling  these  seeming  opposites  'i  I  think  it 
will  be  found  there  is,  and  tluit  a  careful  examination  of  all  the 
available  evidence  points  to  the  fdlowing  conclusions,  luunely, 
that  three  years  after  his  twelve  years'  imprisonment  was  over, 


254  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xi. 

Bunyan  was  again  in  prison  during  the  winter  and  early  spring 
of  1675-6 ;  that  this  time  he  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Town  gaol 
on  Bedford  bridge  ;  and  that  it  was  during  this  later  imprison- 
ment he  wrote  his  memorable  dream. 

Let  us  first  see  what  reason  there  is  for  supposing  that 
Bunyan  was  again  in  gaol  three  years  after  his  release  in  1672, 
and  after  he  had  been  for  that  length  of  time  the  pastor  of  the 
Bedford  Church.  That  there  was  a  later  imprisonment  is 
placed  beyond  all  manner  of  doubt,  though  the  date  of  it  was 
not  given.  The  friend  who  tells  us  that  he  paid  Bunyan  a 
visit  in  gaol  during  his  long  imprisonment  tells  us  also  that 
that  imprisonment  was  divided  into  two  parts,  of  six  years 
each,  with  a  brief  interval  between  the  parts,  and  that  when 
the  second  six  years  was  ended  **  another  short  affliction, 
which  was  an  imprisonment  of  half  a  year,  fell  to  his  share." 
To  the  same  purpose  Charles  Doe  relates  that  "  they  put  him 
in  prison  a  third  time,  but  that  proved  but  for  about  half  a 
year."  These  writers  give  us  no  clue  to  the  date  of  this  third 
imprisonment,  but  we  are  not  altogether  without  evidence  on 
the  point.     This  evidence  takes  a  three-fold  shape. 

In  1675,  which  of  course,  according  to  Old  Style,  extended 
to  March,  1676,  Bunyan  published  a  little  book  in  Catechetical 
form,  entitled  "  Instruction  for  the  Ignorant."  Its  prefatory 
dedication  runs  thus :  "  To  the  Church  of  Christ  in  and  about 
Bedford,  walking  in  the  Faith  and  Fellowship  of  the  Gospel, 
your  affectionate  brother  and  companion  in  the  Kingdom  and 
patience  of  Jesus  Christ,  wisheth  all  grace  and  mercy  by  Jesus 
Christ."  He  goes  on  to  say  that  though  he  has  designed  this 
treatise  for  public  and  common  benefit,  yet  "by  reason  of 
special  bonds  which  the  Lord  hath  laid  upon  me  to  you-ward, 
I  could  do  no  less  being  driven  from  you  in  presence,  not  in  ojf'ec- 
tion,  but  first  present  you  with  this  little  book."  He  signs 
himself,  "  yours  to  serve  you  by  my  ministry  ichen  I  can  to 
your  edification  and  consolation,  John  Bunyan."  It  is  difiicult 
to  attach  any  other  meaning  to  these  words  than  that  in  1675, 
when  he  wrote  them,  he  was  once  more  in  prison. 

The  assumption  of  a  later  imprisonment  at  this  time  has  this 
in  its  favour  also  that  it  removes  a  discrepancy  which  has 
always  been  felt  to  be  a  difficulty  in  the  story  of  Bunyan's 


1675.]  777"^  "FILGHnrS  PJiOGI^FSS."  25:. 

life.  The  contoniporarv  writer,  to  whom  reference  has  been 
made,  tells  us  that  "  after  this  blessed  man  had  suffered  twelve 
years'  imprisonment  for  the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience, 
and  stopt  the  mouths  of  his  greatest  enemies  by  his  holy,  harm- 
less, and  inoffensive  conversation,  it  pleased  God  to  stir  up  the 
heart  of  Dr.  Barlow,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  to  be  a  means  of  his 
deliverance,  which  I  mention  to  this  bishop's  honour."  Now 
we  happen  to  know,  from  an  independent  source,  that  Barlow 
did  actually  interfere  on  Bun^-an's  behalf,  and  that  it  was  John 
Owen,  the  great  Nonconformist  divine  who,  at  the  instigation 
of  some  Bedford  neighbour  of  Bunyan,  first  moved  the  bishop 
on  his  behalf.  Barlow  had  been  Owen's  tutor  at  Queen's  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  as  far  back  as  1630,  and  in  the  Commonwealth 
days  was  librarian  of  the  Bodleian  and  Provost  of  Queen's 
when  Owen  was  University  yice-Chancellor.  The  story  as 
it  relates  to  Bunyan  is  told  with  circumstantial  detail  b}'  Asty 
in  his  "Life  of  Owen,"  he  having  obtained  the  particulars 
from  Owen's  friend,  Sir  John  Hartopp. 

He  says,  "  Dr.  Barlow,  formerly  his  tutor,  then  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  upon  a  speciiil  occasion  failed  him  when  ho  might  have 
expected  the  service  of  his  professed  friendship.  The  case  was 
this  :  ^Ir.  John  Bunyan  had  been  confined  to  a  gaol  for  twelve 
years  upon  an  excommunication  for  Nonconformity  ;  now  there 
was  a  law  that  if  any  two  persons  will  go  to  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  and  offer  a  cautionary  bond  that  the  prisoner  shall  con- 
form in  half  a  year,  the  bishop  may  release  him  upon  tliat  bond; 
whereupon  a  friend  of  this  poor  man  desired  Dr.  Owen  to  give 
him  his  letter  to  the  bishop  on  his  behalf,  which  he  readily 
granted.  It  was  soon  after  the  discovery  of  the  Popish  Plot 
when  this  letter  was  carry'd  to  the  Bisliop  who,  having  read 
it,  told  the  person  who  delivered  it  Tliat  he  had  a  particular 
kindness  for  Dr.  Owen  and  would  deny  liim  ju)thing  ho  could 
legally  do.  'Nay,'  says  he,  'with  my  service,  tell  him,  I  shall 
strain  a  point  to  servo  him.'  (That  was  his  very  expression.) 
'lint,'  says  he,  'this  being  a  new  thing  to  me,  I  desire  a 
little  time  to  consider  of  it;  and  if  I  can  do  it  you  may  bo 
assured  of  my  readiness.'  lie  was  waited  upon  again  about 
a  fortnight  after,  and  his  answer  was,  'Tliat  indeed  ho  was 
informed  he  might  do  it,'  but  the  law  providing  that  in  caso 


256  JOSN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xi. 

the  Bishop  refused,  application  should  be  made  to  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  who  thereupon  should  issue  forth  an  order  to  the 
Bishop  to  take  the  cautionary  bond  and  release  the  prisoner, 
'  now,'  said  he,  *  you  know  what  a  critical  time  this  is,  and  I 
have  many  enemies ;  I  would  desire  you  to  move  the  Lord 
Chancellor  in  the  case,  and  upon  his  order  I  will  do  it ; '  to 
which  it  was  replied,  '  this  method  would  be  chargeable  and 
the  man  was  poor,  not  able  to  expend  so  much  money,  and 
being  satisfy'd  he  could  do  it  legally  it  was  hoped  his  Lordship 
would  remember  his  promise,  there  being  no  straining  a  point 
in  the  case.'  But  he  would  do  it  upon  no  other  terms,  which 
at  last  was  done,  and  the  poor  man  was  released ;  but  little 
thanks  to  the  Bishop."* 

In  giving  this  circumstantial  account  of  the  matter  Asty  is 
evidently  wrong  as  to  the  time,  as  he  might  well  be,  writing 
in  1721  or  more  than  forty  years  afterwards.  In  no  way 
could  1672,  the  year  of  Bunyan's  release  from  his  twelve  years' 
imprisonment,  be  made  to  coincide  with  the  time  of  the  Popish 
Plot,  which  was  in  1678.  But  though  he  was  wrong  as  to 
time  he  evidently  was  certain  as  to  the  fact.  Barlow  was 
undoubtedly  concerned  in  Bunyan's  release,  and  concerned  not 
as  a  friend  but  in  his  official  capacity  as  bishop  of  the  diocese ; 
yet  Barlow  was  not  Bishop  of  Lincoln  till  1675.  His  prede- 
cessor in  the  see,  Dr.  Puller,  died  on  the  23rd  of  April  in  that 
year.  Dr.  Barlow  was  elected  May  14th  and  consecrated 
June  27th.  In  his  official  capacity,  therefore,  he  could  be 
concerned  in  no  release  which  took  place  as  early  as  1672, 
but  might  very  well  have  to  do  with  one  effected  in  1676. 

Purther,  it  is  important  to  note  that  1675  was  the  year  of 
the  ascendancy  of  the  Danby  Administration  and  of  that  impor- 
tant change  in  the  policy  of  the  government  towards  the  Non- 
conformists which  led  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  licences  granted 
to  their  preachers  and  their  places  of  worship  under  the  Declara- 
tion of  Indulgence.  That  Declaration  had  now  been  in  force 
for  three  years,  but  had  never  been  really  popular  in  the 
country.  Even  the  Nonconformists,  while  largely  availing 
themselves  of  the  liberty  which  it  gave,  looked  with  cold 
favour  upon  that  exercise  of  the  royal  prerogative  by  which 

*  Asty's  Life  of  Owen,  'olio  1721,  p.  xxx. 


1G75.]  THE  '-PILGRIM'S  progress:'  2o7 

it  was  conferred.  It  was  an  unconstitutional  Act,  and  there 
was  a  shrewd  suspicion  on  all  sides  that  it  was  mainly  intended 
by  the  king  to  benefit  the  Roniau  Catholics.  That  the  Ilij^h 
Church  party  should  dislike  the  granting  of  liberty  to  the 
Nonconformists  was,  of  course,  only  to  be  expected ;  but,  as 
we  have  said,  even  the  Nonconformists  themselves  accepted 
that  liberty  with  sore  misgiving.  It  was,  they  felt,  a  perilous 
thing  to  leave  it  in  the  power  of  the  Crown  to  suspend  an  Act 
of  Parliament  by  prerogative.  If  it  might  suspend  one  it 
might  suspend  forty,  and  where  then  would  be  the  liberties 
of  the  country  in  the  hands  of  a  Stuart  king?  "When  the 
Declaration  was  debated  in  Parliament  in  1673  a  conspicuous 
Nonconformist,  then  in  the  House,  objecting  to  it  strongly,  was 
met  bv  the  remark — '•'  Why,  Mr.  Love,  you  are  a  Dissenter 
yourself,  it  is  very  ungrateful  that  you  who  receive  the  benefit 
should  object  against  the  manner."  "I  am  a  dissenter,"  he 
replied,  "  and  thereby  unhappily  obnoxious  to  the  law,  and  if 
you  catch  me  in  the  corn  you  may  put  me  in  the  pound.  The 
law  against  the  Dissenters  I  should  be  glad  to  see  repealed 
by  the  same  authority  that  made  it.  But  while  it  is  law  the 
king  cannot  repeal  it  by  proclamation  ;  and  I  had  much  rather 
Bee  the  Dissenters  suffer  by  the  rigour  of  the  law,  tliough  I 
sofFer  with  them,  than  see  all  the  laws  of  England  trampled 
under  the  foot  of  the  prerogative,  as  in  this  example."  * 

These  resolute  words  expressed  a  feeling  widely  shared  ;  and, 
after  vehement  debate,  the  House  resolved,  that  penal  statutes  in 
matters  ecclesiastical  cannot  be  suspended  but  by  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment. Four  days  later  this  resolution  was  fallowed  by  the  voting 
of  an  address  conveying  that  information  to  His  M;ijesty.  The 
result  was  that  very  soon  the  Nonconformists  were  in  u  worse 
plight  than  before.  A  new  Test  Act  was  passed  which,  though 
uimed  mainly  at  the  Roman  Catholics  bore  hardly  upon  all  in 
the  nation  who  could  not  conform  ;  the  king,  with  his  own 
hand,  tore  off  the  Groat  Seal  from  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence; 
and  the  ministry  was  broken  up,  the  reins  of  power  passing  into 
the  hands  of  the  liarl  of  Danby.  In  matters  ecclesiastical,  the 
Jiew  minister  was  simply  Clurcndun  over  again,  just  as  reso- 
lutely bent  us  ho  hud  been  on  building  up  the  Church  on  the 
•  WiLwii's  Lift  of  Difoe,  i.,  fib. 


258  JOHN  BJJNYAN.  [chap.  xi. 

lines  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  and  on  stamping  out  everything 
in  the  shape  of  Dissent.  Thus,  in  1675,  the  reign  of  intolerance 
had  set  in  again  as  violently  as  at  any  time  since  the  Restoration. 
The  king  was  prevailed  upon  to  call  in  all  the  licences  granted 
to  Nonconformist  preachers  and  places  of  worship.  In  a  sermon 
of  the  time  before  the  House  of  Commons  a  high  church  preacher 
sounded  the  note  of  storm.  Nonconformity,  he  said,  could  only 
be  effectually  vanquished  by  vengeance,  and  the  right  thing  to 
do  was  to  set  fire  to  faggot  to  teach  these  obstinate  people  by 
scourges  or  scorpions,  and  to  open  their  eyes  with  gall.  These 
preliminary  mutterings  were  soon  followed  by  the  outburst  of 
the  storm  itself.  Nathaniel  Heywood,  a  well-known  Noncon- 
formist minister  in  Lancashire,  tells  us  that  a(  this  time  he  was 
met  by  more  bitter  opposition  in  his  work,  and  went  through 
sorer  trouble  than  at  any  time  since  his  ejectment.  "Warrants, 
he  says,  were  shot  against  him  like  arrows,  and  when  he  and 
his  people  tried  to  meet  for  worship  they  found  the  officers 
already  at  the  meeting  doors.  Such  being  the  temper  of  the 
time,  no  wonder  if  John  Bunyan,  as  well  as  Nathaniel  Hey- 
wood, was  made  to  feel  the  change.  For  three  years  he  had 
held  a  licence  from  the  king  which  secured  him  as  a  preacher 
from  arrest.  Now  all  such  licences  had  been  recalled  by 
public  proclamation,  and  now,  therefore,  for  the  first  time 
since  his  release  in  1672,  he  was  defenceless  against  informers, 
and  was  once  more  sent  to  gaol. 

This  time  to  the  town  prison  on  the  bridge.  We  may  say 
this  because  there  are  various  indications  and  traditions  pointing 
in  this  direction,  which  leave  little  room  for  doubt.  We  happen 
to  know,  for  example,  that  the  town  gaol  was  that  same  year 
made  ready  for  use  again,  as  though  with  a  view  to  require- 
ments which  were  felt  to  be  near.  It  had  lain  in  dismantled 
condition  ever  since  the  great  flood  of  1671  ;  but  at  a  council 
meeting  held  on  the  13th  of  May,  1675,  "  it  was  agreed  and 
ordered  That  the  Prison  upon  the  Bridge  shall  be  rebuilt :  And 
it  shall  be  done  with  the  ould  materyalls."*  In  pursuance  of 
this  order  a  committee  was  appointed  to  oversee  the  work  which 
was  to  be  taken  in  hand  forthwith.  In  the  case  of  a  structure 
DO  small,  and  with  the  old  materials  ready  to  hand,  the  prison 
*  Act-Booh  of  the  Bedford  Corporation.    May,  1675. 


16T5.]  THE  ''PILGRIM'S  PROGIiESSy  2o9 

might  very  well  be  ready  for  use  again  by  August  or  September 
at  the  latest. 

Then,  further,  we  have  these  two  fiicts  in  confirmation  of 
this  view — First,  the  tradition  that  Bunyan  was  confined  in 
the  prison  on  Bedford  bridge  was  unbroken  from  the  earliest 
times,  and  firmly  believed  by  the  oldest  inhabitants  of  the  town 
till  the  enquiries  of  Mr.  "Wyatt,  in  1808,  raised  the  question  of 
the  county  and  borough  jurisdiction  ;  and,  secondly,  we  have  a 
piece  of  personal  testimony  to   which  considerable  importance 
may  bo  attached.     In  tlie  year  1814  there  died  at  Newport 
Pagnel,  in  his  seventy- seventh  year,  the  Rev.  "William  Bull, 
Congregational  minister  there,  a  man  of  local  influence,  character, 
and  genius,  and  the  intimate  personal  friend  and  correspondent 
of  the  poet  Cowper.      lie  was  often  at  Bedford,  and  it  was  his 
(quaint  and  characteristic  custom  when  crossing  the  town  bridge, 
to  make  solemn  pause  and  do  reverent  homage  to  Bunyan's 
memory,  explaining  on  one  occasion,  to  a  friend  who  crossed, 
the  bridge  with  him  and  who  lived  till  1849,*  that  he  did  so 
because  on  that  spot  Bunyan  suffered  imprisonment  for  con- 
science* sake.     Now,  Mr.   Bull's  testimony  as  to  the  place  of 
imprisonment  is  especially  trustworthy,   for  in  the  year  1758 
he  was  living  in  the  town  of  Bedford,  where  he  was  in  business 
with  his  uncle.     He  joined  the  Bedford  Church  in  1760,  at  the 
time  that  Bunyan's  great  grand-daugliter,  Hannah  Bunyan. 
was  a  member  of  the  congregation,  and   ten  years  before  her 
death.      Ko  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Samuel  Sanderson,  the 
minister  of  the  church,  by  whom  he  himself  was  sent  into  the 
mini.strv.     Sanderson  again  was  for  ten  years  the  colleague,  in 
the  pastorate  at    Bedford,    of    Kbenezer   ChaiidU>r,    wlio  was 
Bunyan's  immediate  successor,  and   the  first  editor  of  liis  col- 
lecte<l  works.    Not  only  indeed  did  Chandler  immediately  follow 
Bunyan  in  the  pastorate  of  the  church,  but  he  was  for  nearly 
forty  years  the  minister  and  clo.so  personal  friend  of  Bunyan's 
eldest   son    John,  who  at   the  time  of  his  father's  third    ini- 
priwmment  would  be  a  young  man  of  eighteen,  and  who  would 
therefore  know  very  well  in   which  gaol  h.-   was  last  conlined. 
By  the  tim<!  of  Chandler  and  Sanderson,  Bunyan's  name  and 
fume  had  steadily  grown,  and  everything  relating  to  him  would 
•  Tho  liiU)  II  r.  'ITiomjut  Kilpin  of  IkdforJ. 

h2 


260  JOHN  BUJSfYAN.  [chap.  xi. 

be  matter  of  interest  and  frequent  conversation.  The  circle 
into  whicli  William  Bull  was  thrown  in  Bedford,  in  1760,  and 
into  which  he  subsequently  married,  was  therefore  in  the  way 
of  being  exceptionally  well-informed  as  to  the  main  facts  of 
Bunyan's  life,  and  he  would  receive  his  information  directly 
from  them.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  tradition  like  this  is 
more  than  respectable,  it  is  conclusive. 

This  bridge-house,  in  which  Bunyan  was  confined  for  six 
months,  served  the  double  purpose  of  a  prison  and  a  toll-house 
at  a  time  when  incoming  grain  and  other  products  were  subject 
to  charges  levied  by  the  municipality.  The  bridge,  with  its 
gatehouses,  was  built  in  1224,  out  of  the  ruins  of  the  old  Bedford 
castle.  With  its  five  arches  spanning  the  stream  of  the  quietly- 
flowing  Ouse,  it  was  a  picturesque  object  to  the  eye,  and  in  a 
peregrination  of  1526,  is  described  as  one  of  the  "  fayre  stone 
bridges "  of  England.  Though  330  feet  long  it  was  only 
13|  feet  wide,  and  its  parapet,  which  was  little  more  than  a 
yard  high,  was  re-built  from  the  materials  of  the  dismantled 
church  of  St.  Peter  Dunstaple,  which,  till  1545,  stood  as  sister 
church  close  to  St.  Mary's.  On  each  side  of  the  central  arch 
was  a  tower  gateway,  that  to  the  north  being  used  as  the  town- 
gaol,  the  one  to  the  south  as  the  military  magazine  and  store- 
house for  the  county.  The  portion  of  the  north  tower  gateway 
used  as  a  prison  was  the  upper  chamber  on  the  east  side,  be- 
neath which  was  a  stone  staircase,  leading  to  a  small  island 
covered  with  shrubs  and  greenery,  that  existed  when  the  water 
was  lower  than  it  is  now. 

If  we  are  right,  then,  in  saying  that  Bunyan  was  again  in 
gaol  in  1675-6,  and  that  the  place  of  his  confinement  was  this 
prison  on  Bedford  bridge,  we  come  now  to  ask.  Was  it  then  and 
there  that  he  wrote  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  ?  "  Two  consider- 
ations seem  to  give  us  the  answer  in  the  aflBrmative.  First  we 
know  for  certain  that  the  book  was  written  in  prison,  and  if  we 
suppose  that  it  was  written  during  his  twelve  years'  imprison- 
ment we  shall  have  to  account  for  the  long  interval  of  six  years 
between  its  composition  and  its  publication  ;  for  from  that  im- 
prisonment Bunyan  was  released  in  1672,  whereas  the  "Pil- 
grim's Progress  "  was  not  published  till  1678.  His  own  account 
of  the  matter  seems  to  suggest  a  very  much  more  prompt 


1G7G.]  TEE  "  PILGRIM'S  rnOGnESSy  261 

procedure.  He  tells  us  that  as  soon  as  lie  had  finished  the 
book  he  was  curious  to  see  what  reception  it  would  meet  with 
at  the  hands  of  his  neighbours  : — 

"  When  I  had  put  mine  ends  together, 
I  show'd  them  others  that  I  might  see  whether 
They  would  condi'nin  them  or  them  justify; 
And  some  said  lot  them  live  ;   some  let  them  die. 
Some  said  John  print  it ;  others  said,  not  so  ; 
Some  said  it  might  do  good  ;  others  said  no." 

nis  book  thus  being  met  by  grave  looks  of  dubiety,  as  well 
as  with  bright  smiles  of  appreciation,  Bunyan  was  for  a  time 
in  as  much  perplexity  as  a  man  usually  is  who  takes  counsel  of 
his  neighbours.  Therefore,  in  the  exercise  of  his  sturdy  common 
sense,  he  will  settle  the  matter  for  himself. 

"  Since  you  are  thus  divided, 
I  print  it  will,  and  so  the  case  decided." 

There  is  an  air  of  briskness  about  this  which,  to  say  the  least, 
is  not  suggestive  of  a  six  years'  interval  before  publication. 

He  also  tells  us  something  further,  which  may  help  to  a  con- 
clusion. He  says  that  at  the  time  when,  all  unexpectedly  to 
himself,  there  dawned  upon  him  the  conception  of  the  Pilgrim 
story,  lie  was  actually  engaged  in  the  composition  of  another 
book  : — 

*'  Thus  it  was:  I  writing  of  the  Way 
And  llace  of  Saints  in  this  our  Gospel-day, 
I'Vll  suddenly  into  an  Allegory 
About  their  journey,  and  the  way  to  glory." 

No  sooner  did  the  vision  duwn  upon  him,  and  the  fast-coming 
troop  of  fancies  begin  to  multiply  "like  sparks  that  from  the 
coals  of  fire  do  fly,"  than  he  bf;4:an  to  bo  afraid  lest  the  new- 
comer would  push  aside  the  more  serious  and,  as  ho  judged 
then,  the  moro  important  work  on  which  ho  was  already  en- 
gaged : 

♦'  Xay  then,  thought  I.  if  that  you  breed  so  fust, 
I'll  put  you  l»y  yourw  Ivt'M,  leMi  you  at  luat 
Should  provo  al  inftiiiliiin,  and  eat  out 
Tbo  book  that  I  ulruudy  am  about." 

As  a  matter  of  duty,  thercfurf,  he  pushed  aside;  the  witching 


262  JOHN BUNYAK.  [chai-.  xi. 

fancies  that  were  lighting  up  his  prison  cell,  and  proceeded 
to  finish  the  work  on  which  he  was  engaged  before  they  came, 
a  work  setting  forth,  as  he  says,  **  the  Way  and  Race  of  Saints 
in  this  our  Gospel-day."  Now,  we  find  that  a  book  answering 
to  this  work,  and  entitled  "The  Strait  Gate,"  was  published 
by  Bunyan  in  1676.  No  other  work  published  during  his 
long  imprisonment,  or  for  years  after,  at  all  meets  the 
requirements  of  the  case.  But  this  book  does.  It  is  concerned 
with  "the  Way  and  Race  of  Saints."  It  was  preceded  in  1675 
by  the  work  entitled  "  Instruction  for  the  Ignorant,"  which 
was  evidently  a  prison  book.  It  came  out  in  1676,  and  it  was 
followed  by  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  which  was  entered  at 
Stationers'  Hall  in  1677. 

The  conclusion  we  have  thus  reached  is  that  the  first  part  of 
the  memorable  dream  was  written  in  the  prison  on  Bedford 
bridge  in  the  early  months  of  1676.  Whether  it  was  actually 
finished  there  may  be  open  to  question.  There  is  a  curious 
break  in  the  story,  which  seems  almost  to  suggest  that  it  was 
not.  After  describing  the  parting  of  Christian  and  Hopeful 
with  the  Shepherds  on  the  Delectable  Mountains,  Bunyan  says, 
"  So  I  awoke  from  my  dream."  Then  in  the  next  paragraph,  he 
adds,  "And  I  slept,  and  dreamed  again,  and  saw  the  same  two 
Pilgrims  going  down  the  mountains  along  the  highway  towards 
the  city."  This  is  the  only  break  that  occurs  in  the  First  Part 
of  the  book.  It  is  not  artistically  required  by  the  plot  of  the 
story ;  indeed  it  somewhat  interferes  with  it ;  and  the  more 
probable  conclusion  is  that  Bunyan's  dream  was  broken  by 
Bunyan's  release  from  his  den,  and  that  the  remainder  of  the 
story,  which  amounts  to  nearly  a  third  of  the  First  Part,  was 
written  after  he  was  at  large. 

The  circumstances  of  the  case  seem  to  point  to  the  early 
summer  of  1676  as  the  time  when  Bishop  Barlow's  order  of 
release  came  from  Buckden  palace  to  Bedford  gaol,  and  when 
Bunyan  finally  bade  farewell  to  his  prison  life.  If  there  be 
any  truth  in  the  supposition  just  made,  that  nearly  one-third 
of  his  book  was  written  after  liis  release,  it  would  probably  be 
sometime  in  1677  that  he  set  out  for  London,  taking  with 
him  the  manuscript  of  the  "  Pilgrim  "  for  publication.  The 
publisher  fixed  upon  was  Nathaniel  Ponder,   at   the  sign  of 


1677.]  THE  '^PILGRIJI'S  progress:'  263 

the  Peacock,  in  the  Poultry,  near  the  church.  His  was  a  new- 
name  on  Bunyan's  title-pages,  but  it  was  one  destined  frequently 
to  re-appear  during  the  next  ten  years ;  and  though  this  was 
the  first  time  these  two  had  had  business  relations  with  each 
other,  Ponder  was  no  stranger  to  the  Nonconformists  of  Bed- 
ford>hire.  In  1G71,  from  his  shop,  which  was  then  in  Chancery 
Lane,  he  had  published  a  work,  entitled  "  England  Saved," 
the  author  of  which  was  Robert  Perrot,  the  ejected  minister  of 
Dean,  in  that  county.  In  1672,  when  a  licence  was  granted  to 
John  AVhitman,  an  elder  of  the  Bedford  church,  to  preach  at 
George  Cokayn's house,  at  Gotten  End,  it  was  endorsed,  "Pray 
deliver  this  to  Nathaniel  Ponder."  There  was  also  this  further 
link  of  connection :  Dr.  Owen  had  recently  been  concerned  in 
Bunyan's  release,  and  Nathaniel  Ponder  was  Owen's  publisher, 
was  indeed  at  that  very  time  bringing  out  for  him  his  work 
entitled  "  The  Reason  of  Faith."  As,  after  the  interest  Owen 
had  recently  taken  in  his  release,  Bunyan  would  probably  call 
upon  him  on  his  arrival  in  the  city,  the  talk  between  them 
would  be  likely  to  determine  the  Peacock  in  the  Poultry  as  the 
destination  of  the  "  Pilgrim." 

The  arrival  of  the  ;MS.  proved  to  be  an  epoch  in  the  life  of  the 
publisher  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  author;  for,  as  John  Dunton 
tells  us,  after  the  success  of  the  famous  book  he  was  known  among 
his  brother  craftsmen  of  the  Stationers'  Company  as  "  Bunyan 
Ponder."  He  was  an  agreeable  man  to  have  dealings  with.  "  He 
has,"  says  Dunton,  "  sweetness  and  enterprise  in  his  air  wliich 
plead  and  anticipate  in  his  favour."  Notwithstanding  his 
pleasant  manners,  however,  "  Bunyan  Ponder,"  like  "  lOlopliunt 
Smith,"  had  in  the  previous  year  found  his  way  to  the  Gate 
house  prison,  as  may  be  seen  frum  the  "Minutes  of  Privy 
Council,"  where  there  is  the  following  record  :  "  1G7G.  At  the 
Court  at  Whitehall,  May  lOth  (the  King  present),  a  warrant  was 
issued  to  commit  Nathaniell  Ponder  to  the  Gatehouse,  for 
carrying  to  the  Presso  to  bo  printed  an  unlicensed  Pamphlet 
tending  to  Sedition  and  Defamation  of  the  Christian  Religion." 
Ponder's  prison  experiences,  however,  proved  to  bo  much  more 
brief  than  those  of  his  friend  Bunyan,  as  his  spirit  was  certainly 
much  less  resolute.  On  the  2Gth  of  the  same  month,  on  the 
loth  of  which  he  had  been  committed,  before  the  same  council, 


264  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xi. 

"  Nathaniel  Ponder,  Stationer,  was  discharged  upon  his  humble 
petition,  setting  forth  his  hearty  sorrow  for  his  oflfence  and 
promising  never  to  offend  in  like  manner.''  He  was  ordered  to 
pay  due  fees  and  to  enter  into  a  bond  of  £500.  The  year  after 
this  experience  of  his  the  MS.  of  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress" 
would  be  in  Ponder's  hands  for  we  find  the  following  entry 
in  the  register  of  the  Stationers'  Company  :  "  22nd  December, 
1677,  Nathaniel  Ponder  entered  then  for  his  Coppy  by  vertue 
of  a  licence  under  the  hand  of  Mr.  Turner,  and  which  is  sub- 
scribed by  Mr.  Warden  Vere,  One  Book  or  Coppy  Intituled 
The  Pilgrim's  Progress  from  this  world  to  that  which  is  to 
come,  delivered  in  y®  Similitude  of  a  Dream,  by  John  Bunyan, 
vj"^."  The  sixpence  indicated  at  the  end  was  of  course  the 
customary  fee  for  registration.  Entered  thus  at  Stationers' 
Hall  at  the  end  of  December,  Bunyan's  Dream,  we  find  from  a 
"  General  Catalogue  of  Books  printed  and  published  at  London 
in  Hilary  Term  167g,"  was  licensed  Februaiy  18th,  1678,  and 
therefore  early  in  the  year  was  in  the  hands  of  that  public 
which  so  quickly  and  for  so  long  was  to  give  it  hearty  welcome. 
In  the  catalogue  referred  to  it  was  announced  as  "  price  bound 
Is.  6d. ; "  it  was  printed  in  small  octavo  on  yellowish  grey  paper, 
from  apparently  new  type,  and  extended  to  232  pages  in  addition 
to  title,  author's  apology  and  conclusion. 

As  in  the  case  of  his  earlier  work,  the  "  Grace  Abounding," 
the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  grew  upon  Bunyan's  hands  after  its 
first  publication.  Some  very  characteristic  additions  were  made 
in  the  second  edition,  which  came  out  the  same  year  as  the  first, 
and  also  in  the  third,  which  appeared  as  early  as  1679.  In  the 
first  edition  there  was  no  description  of  Christian  breaking  his 
mind  to  his  wife  and  children,*  no  appearance  of  Mr.  Worldly 
Wiseman,  no  second  meeting  with  Evangelist,t  no  account 
given  by  Christian  to  Goodwill  at  the  wicket-gate  of  his  own 
turning  aside.J  Christian's  discourse  with  Charity  at  the 
Palace  Beautiful,  was  added  afterwards,  as  were  the  four  verses 
on  his  leaving  the  palace.§     The  other  additions  were  the  third 

*  "In  this  plight what  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  " 

t  "Now  as  Christian,  was  walking  solitary Worldly  "Wiseman's 

counsel." 

j  "  Truly,  said  Christian,  I  have  said  the  truth  of  Pliable cast  out." 

J  "  Then  said  Charity,  Christian from  their  blood." 


16TS.]  TEE  "J'lLGIiLU'S  PPcOGJiFSS:'  265 

appearance  of  Evangelist  as  the  Pilfjrims  were  nearing  Vanity 
Fair;  *  the  further  account  of  Mr.  By-Eud's  rich  rehitions,t  with 
the  conversation  M'hich  took  phice  between  him  and  his  friends, 
and  between  him  and  the  Pilgrims ;  +  the  sight  of  Lot's  wife 
turned  to  a  pillar  of  salt,  with  the  talk  it  occasioned  ;  §  the 
whole  account  of  Diffidence,  the  wife  of  Giant  Despair;  il  and 
finally,  the  description  of  the  Pilgrims  being  met  on  the  farther 
side  of  the  river  by  the  king's  trumpeters  in  white  and  shining 
raiment.li  It  may  be  mentioned  further  that  in  the  first 
edition  several  of  the  songs  were  introduced  without  the  sen- 
tences which  afterwards  connected  them  with  the  narrative  or 
dialogue. 

The  first  edition  of  the  first  part  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  " 
was,  on  the  whole,  much  more  roughly  spelt  than  the  first 
edition  of  the  second  part,  which  was  published  six  years  later. 
We  have  wrong  spellings  by  themselves,  and  also  wrong  spell- 
ings side  by  side  with  right.  AVe  have,  for  instance,  Slough 
of  Despond  and  Slow  of  Dispond,  Pliable  and  Plyable  ;  lie,  lye, 
ly  ;  die,  dye,  dy  ;  raiment  and  raynicnt ;  we  have  such  forms 
as  morgage,  drownded,  grieviously,  travailcrs,  lyons,  ai  for  aye, 
two  wit  for  to  wit,  bin  for  been,  thorow  for  through,  tro  for 
trow,  bruit  for  brute,  strodlcd  for  straddled,  anoiance,  strook, 
bewayling,  toull,  forraign,  suddain,  stounded,  sloath,  melan- 
cholly,  choakcd,  chaulketh,  carkass,  and  villian.  There  is 
nothing  remarkable  in  the  doubling  of  the  final  consonant  in 
such  words  as  generall,  untill,  and  the  like,  for  tliis  was  the 
seventeenth-ccnturv  custom :  but  liunvan  also  doubles  it  in 
such  words  as  bogg,  denn,  scarr,  ragg,  quagg,  and  wagg;  and 
what  was  even  more  unusual,  he  doubles  the  medial  in  such 
Words  us  buzzard,  steddiness,  fellon,  eccho,  shaddow,  widdow. 
In  his  entries  in  the  church  book  he  often  dropped  the  final 
e,  and  in  the  book  before  us  also,  we  find  whoUsom,  lightsom, 
bridg,  and  knowledg;  while  ho  uses  this  letter  to  give  the  old 
jilurul  form   in  shooes,  bruines,  decaies,  alwuies,  paines,  ruyos, 

•  "  Now  when  thoy  wcro  Rot faithful  Crciitor." 

t  "  AhnoHt  thi!  wli'»l(«  town liy  F.ithcr'H  hido," 

X  "  Now  1  saw  in  my  dreiiiii iliMniriiig  lire." 

{  *•  Now  I  HJiw  jiiMt  on  th<!  other  niJo ruini'tnhor  Lot's  wifo." 

I   "  Now  Giuiit  I><»imir  liuil  ii  wifo hi'.inh  thcin  iti  tin'  niornitiff." 

5   *' Thiri' (.iMi<;  out  oIbo  ut  thii»  limo glorious  joy  be  cxi'icfcaud." 


266  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap.  xi. 

and  the  like.  In  this  first  edition  also  we  have  such  collo- 
quialisms and  irregularities  as :  catch't  up,  shewen,  brast  for 
burst,  maiest,  didest,  then  for  to  go,  I  should  a  been,  prac- 
tick,  a  little  to-side,  let's  go  over,  like  for  likely,  afraid  on't, 
ransak't,  mist  for  missed,  such  as  thee  and  I,  you  was,  we  was, 
two  miles  off  of  Honesty,  and  things  prophanes.  The  second 
edition  had  fewer  mis- spellings,  but  more  printer's  errors. 
Some  very  characteristic  marginalia  which  were  found  in  the 
first  edition  were,  one  fails  to  see  why,  omitted  in  subsequent 
issues.  By  the  side  of  the  narrative  there  were  such  racy 
comments  as  these  :  *'  A  man  may  have  company  when  he  sets 
out  for  heaven  and  yet  go  thither  alone  ;  "  "A  Christian  can 
sing  alone  when  God  doth  give  him  the  joy  of  his  heart ;  " 
**  0  brave  Talkative  !  "  "  Christian  snibbeth  his  fellow  ;  " 
"  Hopeful  swaggers  ;  "  "  Christian  roundeth  off  Demas  ; "  "  O 
good  riddance  !  "  "  They  are  whip't  and  sent  on  their  way." 

The  most  important  addition  made  to  the  second  edition, 
which  came  out  only  a  few  months  after  the  first,  was  the 
introduction  of  Mr.  Worldly  Wiseman ;  and  to  the  third 
edition,  which  appeared  the  following  year,  the  characteristic 
additions  to  the  story  of  Mr.  By-ends.  It  was  to  this 
third  edition  of  1679  there  was  first  added  an  illustrative 
engraving  in  the  shape  of  a  portrait  of  the  Author  by  Hobert 
White.  In  this  portrait  Bunyan  is  represented  as  sleeping 
over  a  den  in  which  there  is  a  lion,  while  above  him  Christian, 
with  book  in  one  hand,  staff  in  the  other,  and  burden  on  his 
back,  is  toiling  up  from  the  City  of  Destruction,  low-lying,  to  a 
city  on  the  heights  bathed  in  sunlight. 

The  fact  that  three  editions  were  thus  called  for  within  a 
year,  shows  that  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  leaped  at  a  bound 
to  that  popularity  which  it  has  retained  for  two  centuries.  A 
living  artist  has  given  us  an  ideal  sketch  of  Nathaniel  Ponder's 
shop  at  the  time  he  first  sent  forth  the  book.  A  scholar  is 
coming  out  from  under  the  sign  of  the  Peacock,  and  a  peasant, 
whip  in  one  hand  and  money  in  the  other,  going  in,  while  near 
the  shop  door  are  a  gay  gallant  and  a  fair  lady,  schoolboys, 
and  grave  men,  all  intently  reading  that  story  of  the  "  Pilgrim  " 
they  have  just  purchased  over  the  counter  within.  The  picture 
is  true  to  the  time  then  and  true  to  the  time  now.     There  is 


1679.]  THE  '^  PILGRIM'S  progress:'  267 

the  less  need  therefore  to  give  the  story  which  thus  laid  hold 
ut  once  and  still  keeps  hold  of  minds  so  diverse.  Briefly  told 
it  is  this  : — 

Walking  through  the  wilderness  of  this  world  the  writer 
lights  upon  a  den  wliere  he  lays  him  down  to  sleep.  As  ho 
sleeps,  he  dreams,  and  in  his  dream  he  sees  a  man  who  is 
clothed  in  rags,  carries  a  heavy  burden,  and  is  in  deep  anguish 
of  soul.  Turning  homeward  this  man  tells  out  his  heart-grief 
to  wife  and  children,  who  conclude  that  some  frenzy  has  seized 
him  and  hope  that  sleep  will  settle  his  brain.  But  night 
brings  no  rest,  the  morning  no  relief,  and  with  the  day  he 
wanders  forth  disconsolate.  In  this  condition  he  is  met  by 
Evangelist,  who  urges  him  to  flee  and  tells  him  whither.  Forth 
he  fares  at  once  as  his  counsellor  advises.  \s^i^e  and  children 
call  after  him  in  vain,  and  two  of  his  neighbours  bent  on  bring- 
ing him  back  by  force  are  so  far  from  succeeding,  that  one  of 
them.  Pliable  by  name,  is  prevailed  upon  to  join  him  in  his 
pilgrimage.  These  two,  talking  as  they  go  of  the  glories  of  the 
heavens,  are  suddenly  plunged  into  the  mire  of  earth.  Strug- 
gling out  in  rueful  fashion.  Pliable  will  have  no  more  of  these 
line  visions  if  this  be  the  road  to  them.  To  Christian,  how- 
ever, for  that  was  the  name  of  the  Pilgrim,  the  burden  on  his 
back  is  infinitely  more  grievous  than  any  bedaubing  of  the 
Slough,  and  in  the  hope  of  getting  rid  of  that,  onward  he  goes. 
Turned  out  of  his  way  by  Mr.  Worldly  Wiseman,  he  is  agaip. 
set  ri;.rht  by  Evangelist,  and  reaches  the  wicket  gate,  where 
Good  ^\'ill  receives  him.  Directed  by  this  new  friend  ho 
reaches  tlie  house  of  Interpreter,  where  he  sees  things  rare, 
])rotitable,  things  pleasant,  dreadful,  things  io  make  him  stable. 
<Jn  a  wall  there  is  the  picture  of  a  man  who  has  eyes  lift  up  to 
Ijcaven,  the  best  of  books  in  his  hand,  tlie  law  of  truth  upon 
his  lips,  a  man  who  stood  as  if  he  pleaded  with  men.  Tliis 
j)icture  a  sculptor  in  our  own  times  has  fitly  idealised  in  bronze 
us  u  statue  for  Bunyan  himself.  Besides  this  picture  Christian 
sees  also  the  symbols  of  I'assion  and  Patience,  of  the  fire  not  to 
be  put  out,  of  the  man  who  in  grim  earnest  fights  his  way  into 
the  palace,  of  th<!  des])airing  houI  in  the  iron  cage,  and  of  tlie 
man  startled  by  dreams  of  jud^^'-nicnl. 

Leaving  the  House  of  Interpreter,  the  I'ilgrim,  to  his  jny, 


268  JOHN  BUNYAN  [chap.  xi. 

finds  his  weary  burden  fall  off  at  the  sight  of  the  cross,  and  is 
saluted  by  Shining  Ones,  who  pronounce  him  forgiven,  clothe 
him  with  new  raiment  and  set  a  mark  upon  his  forehead. 
Passing  then  by  Simple,  Sloth,  and  Presumption,  and  encoun- 
tering Formalist  and  Hypocrite,  he  climbs  the  Hill  Difficulty 
to  the  arbour  where  he  loses  his  roll,  passes  the  lions  and 
reaches  a  stately  palace,  the  name  of  which  is  Beautiful  Here 
he  is  welcomed  by  a  grave  and  beautiful  damsel  named  Discre- 
tion, is  entertained  by  Prudence,  Piety,  and  Charity,  and  ulti- 
mately lodged  in  a  large  upper  chamber  named  Peace,  the  win- 
clow  of  which  opened  toward  the  sun  rising,  and  where  he  slept 
till  break  of  day.  Here,  also,  as  in  the  house  of  Interpreter,  he 
sees  many  rarities,  and  in  the  armoury  is  harnessed  from  head 
to  foot  with  what  was  of  proof,  being  then  sent  on  his  way. 

Glory  and  gloom  alternate,  and  after  these  pleasant  experi- 
ences Christian  goes  down  into  the  Valley  of  Humiliation, 
where  he  is  met  by  the  fierce  fiend  Apollyon,  a  devil  such  as 
Luther  met  and  Bunyan  himself  had  known.  The  conflict 
that  followed  is  one  of  the  most  spirit-stirring  scenes  in  the 
whole  book.  Dean  Stanley,  who,  at  the  request  of  the  Duke  of 
Bedford,  selected  the  three  subjects  for  the  bas-reliefs  on  the 
pedestal  of  the  Bunyan  statue,  showed  his  usual  fine  instinct  in 
fixing  upon  this  scene  as  the  foremost  of  the  three,  the  artist 
showing  instinct  equally  fine  in  making  Christian's  form  the 
embodiment  of  all  that  is  staunchly  upright,  true  and  trusty, 
and  that  of  Apollyon  the  incarnation  of  whatever  is  sinister, 
sinuous,  and  gliding.  Into  these  words,  which  wind  up  the 
story,  Bunyan  has  evidently  poured  the  most  burning  memo- 
ries of  his  own  life  :- 

"In  this  combat  no  man  can  imagine,  unless  he  had  seen  and 
heard,  as  I  did,  what  yelling  and  hideous  roaring  Apollyon  made 
aU  the  time  of  the  fight,  he  spake  like  a  dragon  :  and  on  the  other 
side  what  sighs  and  groans  brast  from  Christian's  heart.  I  never 
saw  him  all  the  while  give  so  much  as  one  pleasant  look,  till  he 
perceived  he  had  wounded  Apollyon.  with  his  two-edged  sword, 
then  indeed  he  did  smile,  and  look  upward :  but  'twas  the  dread- 
fullest  sight  that  ever  I  saw." 

The  way  of  a  Pilgrim  to  the  better  life  is  ever  an  arduous 


16T9.]  TUE  ''PILGRIM'S  progress:'  269 

journey.  Xo  sooner  is  Christian  past  this  terrible  brush  with 
Apollyon  than  he  finds  himself  among  the  fearsome  shapes, 
the  doleful  voices,  and  the  ominous  rushin^rs  to  and  fro  of  the 
Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death,  fit  symbol  of  "  the  strujr^le 
with  what  is  darkest  and  dreadcst  in  human  experience,  all  that 
has  in  it  the  least  of  the  lightsomeness  of  life,  most  of  the  chill 
and  darkness  and  mystery  of  death,  giving  to  all  that  in  human 
experience,  which  before  death  is  worse  than  death  itself,  a 
local  habitation  and  a  name."  *  Once  out  of  this  grim  valley, 
however,  Christian  comes  up  with  Faithful,  a  kindred  soul, 
who  for  some  time  at  least  is  to  be  his  companion  on  the  way. 
Passing  the  caverns  of  the  two  giants  Pope  and  Pagan,  the  two 
friends  hold  good  discourse  of  past  experience  till  they  are 
joined  by  one  Talkative,  the  son  of  Say  well,  of  Prating  Pow,  u 
man  of  facile  tongue  and  slippery  life.  Peady  at  a  moment's 
notice  for  what  you  will,  this  man  can  with  equal  facility  and 
equal  emptiness  "  talk  of  things  heavenly  or  things  earthly ; 
things  moral  or  things  evangelical ;  things  sacred  or  things 
prophane ;  things  past  or  things  to  come  ;  things  foreign  or 
things  at  home ;  things  more  essential  or  things  circumstan- 
tial," the  only  condition  the  wretched  windbag  stipulates  for 
being  that  all  be  done  to  spiritual  profit.  At  first  Faithful 
is  somewhat  imposed  upon  by  his  fair  seeming,  but  Christian. 
who  knows  the  man  to  be  in  spite  of  his  fine  tongue,  but  ii 
sorry  fellow,  puts  his  brother  upon  his  guard.  Then  Faithful, 
true  to  his  name,  tears  away  the  musk  from  this  piece  of  hollow 
pretence,  provoking  him  to  the  sneer,  "  You  lie  at  the  catch,  I 
perceive,"  and  sending  him  on  his  way  a  shamed  if  not  a  wiser 
man. 

Parting  with  Talkative  they  are  joined  by  Kvangolisi,  whom 
they  are  right  glad  to  see,  but  whose  words  are  prophetic  of  ap- 
proaching storm.  For  they  are  now  nearing  a  town  where  is 
kept  that  fair  of  ancient  standing  called  Vanity  Fair,  and  througl' 
which  lies  the  way  to  the  Celestial  City.  This  memorablt- 
scene  was  doubtless  suggested  to  IJunyan  by  one  of  the  numy 
fairs  held  in  those  days  which  were  then  of  so  much  impor- 
tance as  means  of  traffic.  Klstow  Fair  had  been  a  great 
institution  ever  since  ilenry  II.  had  granted  a  charter  to  the 

•  John  Service. 


270  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xi. 

nuns  of  the  Abbey  tbere.  But  the  one  fair  of  all  others  likely 
to  suggest  and  be  the  historical  basis  of  Yanity  Fair,  was  that 
held  for  centuries  at  Sturbridge,  near  to  Cambridge.  Like  the 
great  fairs  of  Frankfort,  Leipsic,  and  Novgorod,  it  lasted  for 
weeks.  It  was  proclaimed  by  the  Vice-Chancellor  of  the 
University,  and  opened  with  great  state  by  the  mayor  and 
other  members  of  the  Corporation  of  Cambridge.  It  was  of 
large  extent,  covering  an  area  of  half  a  square  mile,  and  had 
its  long  line  of  booths  named  in  rows  after  the  forms  of  traiEc 
there  carried  on.  It  had  its  Great  One  of  the  fair,  its  Court 
of  Justice  presided  over  by  the  mayor  or  his  deputy  who  was 
attended  by  his  eight  Redcoats  or  Runners.  It  was  a  vast 
emporium  of  commerce.  Mercers  from  France  brought  their 
silks,  and  Flemings  from  the  Low  Countries  their  woollens ; 
traders  from  Scotland  and  from  Kendal  set  forth  their  pack- 
horses  on  the  road  to  be  in  time  for  the  fair,  while  barges  from 
London  came  round  by  Lynn  and  brought  the  merchandise  of 
the  city  along  the  Ouse  and  the  Cam.  All  new  discoveries  and 
foreign  acquisitions  were  here  first  brought  to  public  view  ;  the 
voyages  of  Drake  and  Cavendish  and  Raleigh  furnished  their 
novelties,  while  products  from  beyond  the  east  and  west  of  the 
Atlantic  found  their  way  year  by  year  to  Sturbridge  Fair. 
When  business  was  over  it  was  succeeded  by  pleasure.  Round 
the  square,  in  the  centre  of  which  rose  the  great  maypole  with 
its  vane  at  the  top,  there  were  coffee-houses,  taverns,  music- 
halls,  buildings  for  the  exhibition  of  drolls,  legerdemain,  moun- 
tebanks, wild  beasts,  monsters,  dwarfs,  giants,  rope-dancers, 
and  the  like.  In  1481  a  grotesque  masquerade  was  held 
personating  Louis  XL  of  France,  and  in  the  fifteenth  century 
the  Duke  of  York  spent  a  day  there  in  a  tent  of  cloth  of  gold, 
attended  by  noblemen  and  ladies  and  much  musical  display.  As 
year  by  year  the  country  gentry  for  ten  or  twelve  miles  round 
came  in  with  their  sons  and  daughters  for  the  diversions  of  the 
place,  the  sight  presented  was  that  of  Yanity  Fair  indeed.* 

Bunyan,  often  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cambridge,  as  we 

know  he  was,  must  several  times  in  his  life  have  looked  on  this 

remarkable  scene  at  Sturbridge,  a  scene  which  lent   itself  so 

readily  to  the  purposes  of  his  allegory.     Having  such  memories 

*  Sturbridge  Fair  :  Nichol's  Bib.  Topographica,  vol.  v.,  p.  73  etsec[. 


1679.]  THi:  '' PILGRIM'S  progress:'  271 

in  his  mind  the  Dreamer  sees  Christian  and  Faitliful  pass  into 
Vanity  Fair,  with  its  rows,  its  innumerable  forms  of  traffic  in 
houses,  lands,  trades,  places,  honours,  and  preferments,  titles, 
pleasures,  delights,  and  what  not;  with  its  jugglings,  cheats, 
games,  plays,  fools,  apes,  knaves,  and  that  of  every  kind ; 
with  its  great  one  of  the  fair,  its  court  of  justice,  and  its  power 
of  judgment.  No  wonder  the  pilgrims  found  themselves  out 
of  sympathy  with  their  surroundings,  and  that  Faithful  was 
sent  by  way  of  the  persecutors'  fires  to  the  martyr's  crown. 

Christian  now  has  to  go  alone,  but  not  for  long,  for  Hopeful 
springs  up  out  of  Faithful's  fidelity  and  becomes  his  successor 
in  the  pilgrimage  to  the  city.  As  after  coming  out  of  the 
Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death,  the  Pilgrims  met  with  Talka- 
tive, 80  now,  after  the  sorrows  of  Vanity  Fair,  they  come  up 
with  By-ends  of  Fair-speech,  "  a  subtle  evasive  knave,"  drawn 
with  infinite  skill,  whose  grandfather  was  a  waterman,  looking 
one  way  and  rowing  another ;  and  whose  distinguishing  cha- 
racteristics are  that,  in  religion,  he  makes  it  a  point  never  to 
go  against  wind  and  tide,  and  to  be  the  best  friend  of  religion 
when  she  goes  in  silver  slippers,  walking  in  the  sunshine,  and 
is  applauded  of  the  people. 

Passing  on  their  way,  after  scathing  this  empty  worldling, 
the  pilgrims  leave  Demas  and  his  silver-mine  on  the  one  side, 
and  Lot's  wife,  transformed  into  a  pillar,  on  the  other,  till  thej 
come  to  a  pleasant  river  lined  with  fruitful  trees,  where  they 
are  rested  and  refreshed.  But  the  shadow  follows  the  sunshine, 
and  before  long  they  are  within  tlio  grim  walls  of  Doubting 
Castle  and  the  cruel  grasp  of  Giant  Despair.  ]ieleascd  there- 
from by  the  key  of  Promise,  they  come  next  on  their  way  to 
ihe  Delectable  Mountains  and  the  kindly  Shepherds.  Here  it 
would  be  pleasant  to  stay,  but  life  tarries  not,  neither  must  the 
jjilgrims  of  life ;  they  are  therefore  on  the  road  onco  more. 
As  they  go  Christian  beguiles  the  tedium  of  the  journey  by  the 
story  of  Little-faith",  who  was  robbed  hereabouts.  Tho  sturdy 
rogues  who  jjluiidered  him  have  been  a  terror  to  stronger  men 
than  ho.  They  liave  left  scars  and  cuts  even  on  the  face  of 
Great-grace;  they  made  J>avid  groan,  and  moan,  and  roar;  yea, 
llcinan  and  Ilezt-kiah  too,  lhou;;h  clmuipionH  in  their  day,  wore 
forced  to  bestir  themselves  when  by  thcso  assaulted.     But  who 


272  JORN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xi. 

■was  Heman,  asks  the  poet  Southey  when,  half  a  century  ago, 
he  set  forth  to  edit  a  new  edition  of  Bunyan's  dream  ?  Heman 
was  that  Ezrahite  with  whose  renowned  wisdom  Solomon's  was 
compared  (1  Kings  iv.  31),  and  who  yet  wrote,  as  the  title 
shows,  one  of  our  most  plaintive  Psalms  of  sorrowful  experience 
(Psalm  88).  It  appears,  however,  that  with  all  his  reading, 
Southey  had  never  read  of  him,  and  he  concluded  that  Heman 
was  a  misprint  for  Haman.  But  even  then  the  difficulty  was  not 
over,  for  Haman  was  surely  a  sorry  specimen  of  the  champions 
of  faith  ;  so  Southey  boldly  cut  the  knot  and  substituted  Morde- 
cai  for  Haman  in  the  text  of  the  "  Pilgrim."  But  this  new 
reference  was  pointless  in  its  connection,  and  Bunyan,  who  knew 
his  Bible  better  than  Southey,  had  given  the  better  name.  It 
was  Heman,  and  neither  Haman  nor  Mordecai  who  in  spite  of 
strength  of  wisdom,  had,  as  his  sorrowful  Psalm  testifies,  been 
hardly  bestead  in  the  battle  of  life. 

Encountering  Flatterer  with  his  net,  and  Atheist  with  his 
laugh,  Christian  and  his  companion  pass  over  the  Enchanted 
Ground,  in  safety,  and  reach  the  Country  of  Beulah.  i  This  was 
a  land  of  flowers  and  of  the  singing  of  birds,  where  the  air  is 
very  sweet  and  pleasant  and  the  sun  shineth  night  and  day,  a 
land  where  the  angels  come,  for  it  is  on  the  borders  of  heaven. 
Yet,  pleasant  as  it  is,  not  even  this  land,  but  the  City  of  God  is 
the  destination  of  the  true  pilgrim  ;  therefore  still  they  go.  But 
the  end  is  now  not  far  distant,  and  there  is  now  but  one  trial 
more.  The  bridgeless  River  has  to  be  crossed,  the  river  which 
men  find  deeper  or  shallower  as  they  believe  in  the  King  of  the 
place.  The  crossing  of  that  river  and  the  glorious  reception 
into  the  city  beyond  ;  the  celestial  escort  that  leads  the  pilgrims 
to  the  gate  ;  the  joy-bells  that  ring  as  they  enter  ;  all  the  glad 
sights  and  sounds  that  made  the  Dreamer  wish  himself  among 
them — the  description  of  all  this  is  the  crowning  efibrn  of  his 
genius,  a  possession  for  ever  to  the  literature  of  man,  and  no 
man  may  give  it  but  Bunyan  himself. 

The  striking  and  unexpected  success  of  his  pilgrim  story, 
surprising  no  one  more  than  himself,  may  have  had  much  to  do 
in  determining  Bunyan  to  venture  upon  one  of  those  continu- 
ations which  are  proverbially  dangerous  experiments.  Yet  it 
would  almost  seem  as  if,  even  before  the  First  Part  had  left  his 


1680.]  TUE  "  PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS:'  273 

hands  he  had  some  glimmering  thought  of  a  Second.  In  the 
lust  two  lines  of  the  poetical  conclusion  to  the  First  Part,  he 
says  that  if  his  reader  should 

"  Cast  away  all  as  vain 
I  know  not  but  'twill  make  me  dream  acrain." 

His  first  intention  and  endeavour  was  to  complete  the 
picture  by  a  contrast.  lie  had  given  the  story  of  a  noble  life, 
of  a  life  whose  course  was  upward  to  the  City  of  God ;  his 
pui*pose  now  was  to  paint  in  shadow  the  story  of  a  life  steering 
for  the  outer  darkness,  of  a  soul  ever  "unmaking  itself."  Ini- 
raediatelv  after  the  third  edition  of  1G79,  which  was  the  First 
Part  in  its  completed  form,  he  set  about  the  book  entitled 
the  "Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  Badman."  In  Charles  Doe'e 
Catalogue  the  date  of  its  first  appearance  is  given  as  1G85,  but 
earlier  editions  have  come  to  light  since  then,  and  we  now  know 
that  it  was  actually  published  in  1G80.  That  he  connected 
this  work  with  his  "Pilgrim"  in  his  own  mind,  he  tells  us 
himself.  The  preface  commences  thus :  "  As  I  Nvas  considering 
with  mvsclf  what  I  had  written  concerning  the  Progress  of  the 
Pilgrim  from  this  world  to  glory  :  and  how  it  had  been  accept- 
able to  many  in  this  nation  :  It  came  again  into  my  mind  to 
write,  as  then  of  him  that  was  going  to  Heaven,  so  now  of  the 
Life  and  Death  of  the  Ungodly  and  of  their  travel  from  this 
world  to  Hell."  But  whatever  ]Junyan's  intention  might  be 
the  popular  instinct  was  in  this  case  truer  than  his  own.  The 
story  of  Badman's  Life  only  served  as  a  foil  to  that  of  Christian 
and  could  not  be  accepted  either  as  its  complement  or  continu- 
ation. Indeed,  after  the  appearance  of  tliis  book,  otlier  writers, 
ignoring  it,  undertook  to  complete  Bunyan's  allegory  for  him. 
In  1683  a  writer  who  signs  him.self  T.  S.  stepped  into  the  field 
with  u  book  whicli,  in  size  and  type  closely  resembled  the  First 
]*ort  Bent  out  by  Nathaniel  Ponder.  It  was  entitled  "  The 
Second  Part  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  from  "  this  ])rcsent 
World  of  WickednesH  and  Misery  to  An  I'ternity  of  Holiness 
and  Felicity:  Fxaclly  Described  under  the  Similitu<le  of  u 
Dream."  It  was  printed  for  Jho.  Malthus  at  the  Sun  in  the 
Poultry,  and  (mj  far  as  is  known,  only  one  coj)y  has  survived 
the  lapso  of  time,  a  copy  which  was  formerly  in  the  library 

T 


214  JOHN  BV NY  AN.  [chap.  xi. 

of  the  poet  Southey,  and  is  now  in  that  of  the  Baptist  Union. 
The  writer,  whoever  he  was,  had  no  intention,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  spurious  Third  Part  of  a  later  time,  of  palming  off  his 
book  as  Bunyan's  own  production.  With  not  too  much  modesty, 
he  merely  intended  to  mend  Bunyan's  work,  to  supply  what  he 
considered  to  be  missing  in  the  First  Part  of  the  story.  Pressed 
by  the  importunity  of  others,  he  had,  he  said,  issued  his  medi- 
tations, "in  such  a  method  as  might  serve  as  a  Supplyraent  or 
a  Second  Part  to  it,  wherein  I  have  endeavoured  to  supply  a 
fourfold  defect  which  I  observe  the  brevity  of  that  discourse 
necessitated  the  Author  into."  He  has  endeavoured  to  be  more 
theological  and  "  to  deliver  the  whole  in  such  serious  and 
spiritual  phrases  that  may  prevent  that  lightness  and  laughter 
which  the  reading  of  some  passages  [in  Bunyan's  book] 
occasions  in  some  vain  and  frothy  minds."  In  other  words,  the 
original  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  was  not  doctrinal  enough  and  it 
was  too  attractive,  charges  which  no  one  will  think  of  bringing 
against  his  own  production,  which  he  hopes  will  help  on  a 
practice  recently  proposed  :  "  viz..  The  giving  of  Books  of  this 
nature  at  Funerals,  instead  of  Rings,  Gloves,  Wine  or  Bisket." 
This,  which  came  out  in  1683,  was  not  the  only  attempt 
made  to  improve  upon  Bunyan.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
genuine  Second  Part,  which  came  out  the  following  year,  he 
says — 

"  Some  have  of  late  to  counterfeit 
My  Pilgrim,  to  their  own  my  title  set ; 
Yea  others,  half  my  name  and  title  too 
Have  stitched  to  their  own  hook  to  make  them  do  • 
But  yet  they  hy  their  Features  do  declare 
Themselves  not  mine  to  he  whose' er  they  are.  ' 

This  Second  Part  by  Bunyan  himself  was  published  early  in 
1685,  or  in  1684,  Old  Style.  The  title-page  was  a  reproduction 
and  adaptation  of  the  title  to  the  First  Part,  and  this  later  work, 
like  that,  was  published  by  Nathaniel  Ponder.  Unlike  the 
first  edition  of  the  First  Part,  however,  which  had  no  illus- 
trations, this  had  a  frontispiece  depicting  Christiana  and  her 
companions  setting  forth  to  the  Celestial  City  ;  there  being  a 
sleeping  portrait  of  Bunyan  at  the  foot  of  the  picture.  Between 
pages  52  and  53  also,  there  was  a  rude  engraving  of  Greatheart 
carrying  a  huge   sword  in  front  of  the  pilgrims ;  and  another 


ICSJ.]  THE  -riLGRIM'S  progress:'  275 

between  pa^jes  IG'2  and  1G3,  in  which  the  pil2:rinis  are  scon 
mirthfully  dancing  round  the  uplifted  head  of  Giant  Despair. 
On  the  reverse  of  the  title  there  was  this  note  : — 

"  I  appuint  Mr.  Xathaniel  Ponder,  But  no  other,  to  Print  this 
Book.  Jolin  Bun^-an." 

"  January  1st,  1684.     [1C8.3  N.S.]  " 

In  this  Second  Part,  as  in  the  First,  wc  have  such  spellings 
as,  gon,  lodg,  knowledg,  dwcl,  welcora,  Samaritane,  venome, 
combate,  scarrs,  curr,  bitt,  raarr,  lillies,  eccho,  linnen,  robbin, 
shaddow.  "We  have  such  variations  as  mercy  and  mercio. 
Apollyon  and  ApoUion,  sagasity  and  sagaciety,  giant  and  gyant; 
such  plurals  as  shoos,  hosen,  noscgaics,  bodys.  AVe  have  also 
such  forms  as  suckered,  nutriturc,  awrie,  fether,  foyled,  craul, 
hault,  jocond,  surtits,  crums.  AVc  have  stere  for  steer,  bryers 
for  briars,  role  for  roll,  and  faireth.  for  fareth.  Wc  come  also 
upon  such  colloquialisms  as  "above-head"  for  "over-head," 
"  would  a  had  him,"  "  like  to  a  bin,"  "not  a  bin,"  "  I  was  a 
dreamed,"  "  the  highways  have  a  been  unoccupied,"  "  greatly 
gladded"  ;  and  such  expressions  as  "  she  all-to-be-fooled  me," 
"most  an  end,"  "  they  made  pretty  good  shift  to  wagg  along," 
"  to  pet  a  thing  by  root-of-heart,"  "  he  cried  her  down  at  tlio 
cross,"  "heart-whole,"  "good-tasted,"  and  "a  beck'n  of  fare- 
well." 

After  sending  forth  his  First  Part,  Bunyan's  next  intention, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  to  complete  the  story  of  a  good  life  by 
placing  side  by  side  with  it  the  contrast  of  a  life  that  was  basely 
bad.  His  second  conception,  which  turned  out  to  ho  more 
successful,  was  to  supplcmont  the  story  of  Christian's  pilgrim- 
age by  that  of  his  wile  hnd  children  ;  tlie  record  of  the  religious 
life  in  man  by  the  story  of  that  same  life  as  it  shows  itself  in 
woman.  That  the  influence  of  the  spiritual  world  upon  her 
raoro  susceptible  nature,  liad  for  him  a  special  interest,  wo 
gather  from  the  graceful  passage  ho  puts  into  the  lips  of  Gains 
mine  hf»Ht  : — 

"I  will  say  ag^nin,  tliat  when  the  Saviour  was  conio  woiiion  ro- 
joyc-od  in  him  boforo  oIiIkt  man  or  ungi-l.  I  road  not  that  uvon 
any  man  did  givf  unto  ClirJHt  so  niucli  as  on<«  j^^roat,  Imt  tljo 
women    followed   iiiiu   and    niini«l«'r('d    to  him  of  fhcir  hubhtaiico. 

t2 


276  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xi. 

'Twas  a  woman  tliat  waslied  Ms  feet  with,  tears,  and  a  woman  that 
anointed  his  body  to  the  burial.  They  were  women  that  wept 
when  he  was  going  to  the  Cross ;  and  women  that  followed  him 
from  the  Cross  and  that  sat  by  his  sepulcher  when  he  was  buried. 
They  were  women  that  was  first  with  him  at  his  Resurrection  morn, 
and  women  that  brought  tiding  first  to  his  disciples  that  he  was 
risen  from  the  dead.  Women,  therefore,  are  highly  favoured,  and 
show  by  these  things  that  they  are  sharers  with  us  in  the  grace  of 
life." 

He  was  himself  singularly  fortunate  in  the  two  companions 
of  his  home  life  and  pilgrimage.  Mr.  Lynch*  acutely  sug- 
gested that  in  Christiana,  with  her  vigorous  strength  of 
character,  Bunyan  was  idealizing  his  second  wife  Elizabeth, 
who  in  the  Swan  Chamber  so  nobly  confronted  judges  and 
magistrates  in  his  behalf ;  while  in  the  gentler  character  of 
Mercy  we  have  his  heart-reminiscence  of  her  who  had  been  the 
wife  of  his  youth  in  his  far-off  Elstow  davs.  "Whatever  there 
may  be  in  this,  the  reference  did  not  extend  to  his  household, 
for  Christiana's  children  were  four  sons,  while  Bunyan's  were 
three  sons  and  three  daughters,  the  youngest  child  in  each 
household,  however,  being  a  Joseph.  There  was  one  difficulty 
in  constructing  this  story  of  Christiana  which  must  have  been 
felt  from  the  first — the  difficulty  inherent  in  sending  forth 
women  and  children  on  a  hazardous  journey  like  that  which 
Christian  had  taken  before  them.  This  difficulty,  however, 
was  overcome  by  the  device,  old  as  the  days  of  mediseval 
romance,  of  providing  them  with  an  attendant  champion,  who, 
as  Mr.  Greatheart,  sees  them  safely  past  the  perilous  places  of 
their  pilgrimage  and  on  to  their  journey's  end. 

Picturing  substantially  the  same  road  as  the  first,  this 
second  dream  nevertheless  opens  up  to  us  with  some  varia- 
tions of  form.  It  is  six  years  since  the  pilgrimage  of  Christian 
was  given  to  the  world,  of  which  interval  the  writer  gives  this 
explanatory  word :  "  Now  it  hath  so  happened  thorough  the 
multiplicity  of  business  that  I  have  been  much  hindred  and 
kept  back  from  my  wonted  travels  into  those  parts  whence  he 
went,  and  so  could  not  now  obtain  an  opiDortunity  to  make 
further  enquiry  after  whom  he  left  behind,  that  I  might  give 

*  Morningion  Lecture — Bunyan. 


16S5.]  TEE  ''PILGRIM'S  progress:'  277 

you  an  account  of  them.  But  liavint;  liad  some  concerns  that 
way  of  late,  I  went  down  again  thitherward.  Now  having 
taken  up  my  lodgings  in  a  wood  about  a  mile  off  the  place,  as 
I  slept  I  dreamed  again."  He  is  tlius  no  longer  in  his  den,  no 
longer  in  prison,  but  in  more  pleasant  surroundings  when  the 
second  vision  comes  upon  him.  In  opening  up  its  story  also, 
he  has  recourse  to  an  expedient  he  had  not  used  before,  an 
expedient  similar  to  the  device  of  Euripides  among  the 
Greek  tragedians,  who  introduces  some  hero  or  god  in  the 
prologue  of  the  story  to  tell  us  what  is  the  present  state  of 
affairs,  and  what  has  happened  up  to  the  time  of  his  speaking. 
The  intervening  interpreter  in  this  case  is  an  aged  gentleman 
named  Mr.  Sagacity,  who  comes  up  to  the  dreamer  in  his  vision, 
and  after  describing  how  Christiana  was  led  to  go  forth  on  pil- 
grimage, and  carrying  on  the  narrative  as  far  as  the  scene  at  the 
wicket- gate,  drops  out  of  the  story,  to  bo  seen  by  us  no  more. 

Alike  in  the  case  of  Christiana  as  in  tluit  of  Christian,  this 
setting  forth  on  pilgrimage  makes  a  stir  among  the  neighbours, 
and  while  Obstinate  and  I'liable  try  to  turn  Christian  from  his 
purpose,  Mrs.  Timorous  and  Neighbour  Mercy  come  on  the 
same  errand  to  Christiana.  In  both  cases  one  of  the  two 
remonstrants  ends  in  going  with  the  pilgrim,  with  this  differ- 
ence, however,  that  Pliable  afterwards  turns  back,  which  ^lercy 
does  not.  The  later  conference  among  Pliable's  neighbours 
has  its  counterpart  also  in  the  lively  conversation  carried  on 
between  Mrs.  Timorous  and  her  friends  ^Irs.  IJat's-cyes,  ^Irs. 
Inconsiderate,  Mrs.  Light-mind,  and  ^Irs.  Know-nothing. 
These  animated  gossips  first  conclude  that  if  Christiana  will  go 
thev  are  well  rid  of  her,  for  'twas  never  a  good  world  since 
these  whimsical  fools  dwelt  in  it  ;  tliey  then  turn  to  more  con- 
genial themes,  listening  to  Mrs.  Liglit-mind  as  she  tells  how 
yesterday  she  was  at  Madam  "Wanton's,  where  they  were  all  as 
merry  as  the  maids.  The  second  j)art  lies  along  the  same  main 
lines  as  the  first.  "NVc  have  the  City  of  Destruction,  the  \Vicket- 
gutc,  the  House  of  Interpreter,  the  Ilill  Difliculty,  the  Talaco 
Beautiful,  the  Valley  of  Humiliation  and  that  of  the  Sliadow  of 
Death,  Vanity  Fair,  tho  Del(ctal)le  Mountains,  llio  l"]n(  luuitixl 
Oround,  the  Land  of  Ik-uluh,  and  the  lliviT  without  a  bridge. 
"\Vf  meet  with  some  of  tlie  same  pcopK;  along  the  road  or  some  of 


278  JOEN  BUJSTYAN:  [chap.  xi. 

their  relations,  and  all  through  the  journey  the  pilgrims  find 
that  every  one  knows  Christiana's  husband,  and  the  mere  men- 
tion of  his  name  proves  a  passport  to  hospitality  and  honour  for 
her  and  her  children. 

But  while  there  are  many  and  substantial  resemblances  be- 
tween the  two  parts,  there  are  also  additions  and  important 
variations.  In  the  House  of  Interpreter  the  later  pilgrims 
see  in  the  significant  rooms  sights  Avhich  Christian  saw  not. 
They  are  shown  the  man  who  could  look  no  way  but  down- 
ward, and  who  went  on  raking  sticks  and  straws  and  dust  of 
the  floor,  all  unmindful  of  the  celestial  crown  to  be  seen 
over  his  head ;  the  spider  which,  repellent  creature  as  it  is,  yet 
finds  its  way  into  kings'  palaces ;  the  hen  that  has  such 
various  calls  for  her  brood ;  the  sheep  that  yields  up  its  life  so 
uncomplainingly ;  the  robin,  pretty  of  note,  colour,  and 
carriages,  that  yet  catches  and  gobbles  up  unclean  spiders ;  the 
tree,  fair  of  leaf  but  rotten  within,  fit  type  of  men  of  plausible 
exterior  whose  hearts  are  yet  good  for  nothing  but  to  be  tinder 
for  the  devil's  tinder-box  ;  and  the  garden  of  the  Interpreter's 
House,  where  was  great  variety  of  flowers — flowers  diverse  in 
stature,  in  quality,  in  colour,  and  smell  and  virtue,  where  some 
are  better  than  some,  and  yet  there  was  this  to  be  noted,  that 
where  the  gardener  has  set  them  there  they  stand  and  quarrel 
not  one  with  another.  In  the  Palace  Beautiful,  again,  they 
were  shown  additional  rarities  :  one  of  the  apples  that  Eve  did 
eat  of ;  Jacob's  ladder,  on  which  the  angels  were  going  up  and 
coming  down  ;  the  mount  on  which  Abraham  offered  up  his 
son  Isaac.  A  golden  anchor  also  was  given  unto  them,  and 
they  were  had  into  the  dining-room,  where  stood  a  pair  of 
excellent  Virginals,  on  which  Prudence  played,  turning  the 
sights  she  had  shown  them  into  an  excellent  song.  At  a  later 
stage  of  their  journey,  too,  they  were  had  to  some  new  places 
on  the  Delectable  Mountains  ;  to  Mount  Marvel,  from  which 
they  saw  a  man  at  a  distance  that  tumbled  the  hills  about  with 
words;  to  Mount  Innocent,  where  they  could  see  Prejudice  and 
Ill-will  casting  dirt  upon  a  man  clothed  in  white,  from  whom 
the  dirt  fell  as  fast  as  it  was  thrown ;  and  to  Mount  Charity, 
where  they  could  see  a  man  cutting  coats  and  garments  for  the 
poor  from  a  roll  of  cloth  which  grew  never  the  less. 


1G85.]  TEE  '^  PILGPdM'S  progress:'  27y 

In  this  second  part  Bunyan  shows  his  manj'-sided  sympathy 
by  unfolding  the  variety  tlierc  is  in  spiritual  experience.  In 
this  respect  it  is  not  a  mere  repetition.  Going  through  the 
Slough  of  Despond  Christiana's  company  looked  well  to  the 
steps  and  made  a  shift  to  get  staggeringly  over  witliout  being 
so  grievously  bemired  as  Christian  was.  It  was  daytime  when 
they  went  through  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death  ; 
Apollyon  appeared  to  them  only  as  a  distant  slia]i(',  and  no 
sooner  approached  than  he  vanished  ;  and  Giant  l)espair,  so 
far  from  shutting  them  up  in  his  dungeons,  gets  Doubting 
Castle  pulbd  about  his  ears,  and  his  head  struck  from  his 
shoulders  by  Greatheart,  Old  Honest,  and  the  rest.  lew 
things  are  more  marked  in  the  story  than  the  contrast  between 
the  Valley  of  Humiliation  as  it  presented  itself  to  Christian, 
and  as  it  presented  itself  to  those  who  came  after  him — to  thus 
man  of  high  spirit  and  to  the  women  queenly  in  their  passive 
meekness.  To  him  it  was  a  scene  of  awful  conflict  with 
Apollyon,  to  them  it  was  a  tranquil  dwelling  in  green  pastures 
and  by  still  waters.  To  the  sweet,  contented  spirit  of  Mercy 
this  valley  was  a  place  where  she  loved  to  be.  "  Methinks," 
said  she,  "one  may  witliout  much  molestation  be  thinking  what 
he  is,  whence  he  comes,  and  to  what  the  Xing  has  called  him. 
Here  one  may  think  and  break  at  heart  and  melt  in  one's 
spirit,  until  one's  eyes  become  like  the  fish-pools  of  Ileshbon." 
The  gentle  nature  of  Mr.  Fearing,  too,  found  in  this  valley  its 
congenial  home.  "  Here  he  would  lie  down,  embrace  the 
ground,  and  kiss  the  very  flowers  tliat  grew  in  this  valle}'.  He 
would  now  be  up  every  morning  by  break  of  day,  tracing  and 
walking  to  and  fro  in  this  valley."  It  is  a  valley  that  to  tlie 
meek  and  lowly  in  heart  is  ever  green,  and  beautified  with 
lilies  ;  many  labouring  men  have  gut  good  estates  therein,  for 
grace,  more  grace  is  given  to  the  liumhle.  Our  Lord  Himself 
hud  his  country  house  in  this  valley  and  loved  nnich  to  be  lure, 
loved  much  to  walk  these  meadows,  finding  the  air  to  bo 
j)lea«ant.  Hero  a  man  may  be  free  from  the  noise  and  from 
the  hurryings  of  this  life,  and  hero  he  shall  not  bo  so  lot  and 
liindered  in  his  conleiiiplations  as  in  otlier  places  he  is  apt  to 
be.  It  was  in  this  valley  ihi-  j)ilgrim.s  eame  upon  a  shejjherd- 
boy,  simply  clad,  but  of  a  fresh  and  well-fuvoured  countenance, 


280  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xi. 

■who  lives  here  a  merrier  life  and  wears  more  of  that  herb 
called  heart's-ease  in  his  hosom  than  he  that  is  clad  in  silk  and 
velvet.  "  Hark  !  said  Mr.  Greatheart,  to  what  the  shepherd- 
boy  saith."     So  they  hearkened  and  he  said  : — 

"  '  He  that  is  down  need  fear  no  fall, 

He  that  is  low  no  pride  : 

He  that  is  humble,  ever  shall 

Have  God  to  be  his  guide. 

I  am  content  with  what  I  have, 

Little  be  it  or  much  ; 
And,  Lord,  contentment  still  I  crave, 

Because  thou  savest  such.'  " 

In  a  story  especially  meant  to  exhibit  the  passive,  trustful, 
feminine  side  of  the  religious  life  we  might  expect  what  we 
find — a  loving  sympathy  with  the  bruised  reeds  of  life,  the  souls 
all  quivering  with  sensibility  in  the  midst  of  a  hard  world. 
None  of  Bunyan's  creations  ever  laid  deeper  hold  of  his  heart 
than  did  Mr.  Fearing,  who  Avas  dejected  at  every  difficulty, 
and  stumbled  at  every  straw,  yet  curiously  enough  did  not 
much  fear  the  lions,  "  for  you  must  know  that  his  trouble  was 
not  about  such  things  ;  his  fear  was  about  his  acceptance  at 
last."  His  Lord  was  very  tender  to  such  as  he.  At  the 
House  of  Interpreter  some  of  the  good  bits  at  the  table  were 
sure  to  be  laid  upon  his  trencher  ;  when  he  went  through  the 
Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death  it  was  as  quiet  as  ever  it  was 
known,  before  or  since;  and  when  he  was  come  at  the  river  where 
was  no  bridge,  "  I  took  notice  of  what  was  very  remarkable  : 
the  water  of  that  river  was  lower  at  this  time  than  ever  I  saw 
it  in  all  my  life  ;  so  he  went  over  at  last  not  much  above  wet- 
shod."  Equally  tender  and  sympathetic  is  Bunyan  with  Mr. 
Feeblemind,  Mr.  Ready-to-halt,  Mr.  Despondency,  and  his 
daughter.  Miss  Much-afraid. 

Yet,  while  we  have  this  side  of  life  given  with  such  exquisite 
tact  and  insight,  and  while  we  are  presented  with  such  grace- 
ful women  of  Puritan  type  as  Mercy  and  Christiana,  we  have 
also  creations  of  masculine  strength  and  force  such  as  might 
have  stood  in  the  ranks  of  Cromwell's  Ironsides.  We  have 
Greatheart — stout  champion  of  womanly  chastity  and  gentle- 
ness ;  Old  Honest,  sturdy  in  greatness  of  soul ;  and  Valiant- 


IGSd.]  THE  'TILGRIJI'S  progress:'  281 

for-Truth    wielding   a    right    Jerusalem    blade,    and    leaving 

marks  of  his  valour  on  the  foes  he  fought,  fighting  one  against 

three : 

"  Who  would  true  valoiir  see, 

Let  bim  come  liilher  ; 

One  here  will  constant  be, 

Come  wind,  come  weather  ; 
There's  no  discouragement 
Shall  make  bim  once  relent 
His  first  avowed  intent 
To  be  a  pilgrim."* 

Even  this  hasty  glance  at  its  story  may  serve  to  show  that 
this  Second  Part  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  is  not  altogether 
unworthy  of  the  First,  Inferior  to  that  no  doubt  it  is,  has 
more  incongruities,  is  less  powerfully  sustained,  and  presents 
dialogues  of  mediocre  type  such  as  its  predecessor  does  not. 
Yet  when  all  deductions  have  been  made,  we  feel  that  it  carries 
with  it  sufficient  impress  of  Bunyan's  genius,  enough  of  charm 
and  individuality  all  its  own  to  entitle  Christiana  to  go  hand- 
in-hand  with  Christian  on  his  pilgrimage  thi'ough  time.  Be- 
tween these  two  there  is  vital  relation.  They  are  the  creations 
of  the  same  genial  soul,  the  outcome  of  the  same  heaven-kindled 
fire  ;  and  he  who  brooded  over  and  called  into  shape  this  later 
child  of  his  brain  sent  it  forth  with  this  foreword  on  its  front : — 

"  Go  now  my  little  book  to  every  place 
Where  my  first  Pilgrim  has  but  sliown  his  face : 
Call  at  their  door  :  ask  them  yet  again, 
If  fonnerly  they  did  not  entertain 
One  Christian,  a  I'ilgrim  ;  if  tlu-y  say 
They  did  and  was  delighted  in  his  way  ; 
Then  let  them  know  that  thiso  related  wcro 
Unto  him,  yea,  his  wife  and  childicn  are." 

•  Runyan  had  surely  road  Shakespeare's  As  you  like  it,  and  thoro  mot  with  this 
song: 

**  Who  doth  ambition  shun, 
And  loves  to  livo  i'  thi;  sun, 
Keekin^f  the  food  he  eats, 
And  pluiuod  with  wluit  he  getii. 
Como  liithcr,  come  hither,  como  hither: 
Here  Hhull  he  sou 
No  onemy, 
But  winter  uud  rough  weather ." 


XII. 

THE   PLACE  OF   THE  "PILGRIM'S   PROGRESS"  IIS" 

LITERATURE. 

Having  looked  at  tlie  relation  the  two  parts  of  the  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress  "  sustain  to  each  other,  it  may  be  interesting  to  form 
some  estimate  of  the  book  as  a  whole,  and  to  account  for  its 
widespread  and  various  influence.  In  attempting  to  do  so  it 
would  be  beside  our  purpose  to  compare  it  with  tho  few  kingly 
books  enthroned  on  the  supreme  heights  of  literature,  and 
reigning  there  by  common  suffrage  of  civilised  nations  and 
successive  centuries.  There  is  no  need  to  demand  entrance  for 
it  where  entrance  would  not  be  willingly  and  universally 
accorded.  This  allegory  has  its  distinctive  merits  and  its  own 
distinct  place  in  the  short  roll-call  of  really  illustrious  books. 

One  of  the  foremost  causes  of  its  success  is  that  with  such 
singular  felicity  it  meets  a  pre-existing  love  of  metaphor,  fable, 
parable,  and  allegory,  which  is  deeply  rooted  in  human  nature. 
How  congenial  this  form  of  literature  was  to  the  temperament 
of  the  Oriental,  no  one  with  the  Bible  in  his  hand  needs  to  be 
told.  Nor  is  the  love  of  it  confined  to  the  glowing  East  or  to 
the  sunny  South.  Kriloff  has  shown  that  even  on  the  snowy 
steppes  of  the  ungenial  North,  the  Russian  peasant  finds  a  new 
charm  for  his  intellect  and  a  fresh  glow  for  his  feeling  in  mind- 
pictures  based  upon  the  instinctive  conviction  that  the  outward 
world  of  fact  and  form  stands  in  vital  relation  with  the  inward 
world  of  personal  experience  and  abstract  truth. 

Not  that  we  are  to  suppose  that  allegory  has  been  made  to 
minister  merely  to  the  pleasures  of  the  imagination.  There 
has  usually  been  serious  earnest  purpose  beneath  the  charm  of 
the  story.  It  has  either  set  forth  the  pregnant  choice  made  at 
fateful   moments   of   human   life   between   folly   and  wisdom, 


" P/Z GELM'S  PROGRESS "  IX  LITERA TURE.       2S3 

between  pleasure  and  duty,  with  the  far-reaching;  consequences 
resulting  from  the  choice  ;  or,  and  this  porha])S  more  frequently, 
it  has  become  a  protest  under  thinlv  veiled  dis«ruise  against  the 
oppressor's  wrong  and  the  proud  man's  contumely.  The  two 
earliest  examples  remain  still  among  the  best  iUustrations  of 
the  uses  to  which  allegory  has  ever  been  put,  the  one  the 
parable  of  Jotham  i>>ncerning  the  choice  of  a  kiug  by  the  trees, 
the  other  the  story  told  by  Nathan  to  David  of  that  rapacious 
rich  man,  who  with  many  flocks  and  herds  of  his  own,  yet 
robbed  the  poor  man  of  the  one  little  ewe  lamb  which  lay  in 
his  bosom  and  drank  of  his  cup.  The  prophet  thus  bringing 
home  to  the  King's  conscience  his  cruel  wrong  against  one  of 
his  subjects,  was  anticipating  by  centuries  the  exceeding  bitter 
cry  against  the  evils  of  the  time  raised  by  "William  Langland, 
in  his  "  Pier's  Plowman's  Vision  ; "  by  John  Gower  in  his 
"Vox  Clamantis,"  and  by  Sir  David  Lyndsay  in  that  "  Drerae  " 
of  his,  which  was  really  an  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  the 
young  Scottish  Prince  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 

It  is  not,  however,  with  allegory  in  general  we  are  now  con- 
cerned so  much  as  with  that  special  form  of  it  which  in  various 
ways  has  depicted  the  pilgrimage  of  life.  In  l''J30,  Guillaumc 
de  Guilcville,  a  monk  of  the  royal  abbey  of  Chaliz,  was  reading 
the  "  Roman  de  la  Rose,"  that  memorable  mcdircval  romance 
begun  about  1230  by  the  trouvere  Guillaumc  de  Loris,  and 
finished  by  Jean  de  Meung.  As  he  read  the  book  there  was 
suggested  to  him,  he  says,  the  conception  of  his  own  vision  of 
"  Le  Pelerinage  de  I'llommc,"  a  work  of  interest  to  us  inas- 
much as  it  has  been  repeatedly  aflirmed  that  to  it  Bunyan  was 
largely  indebted  for  the  idea  of  his  own  Pilgrim.*  Under  ihe 
title  of  "  The  Pilgrimage  of  the  Sowle,  translated  oute  of 
Frenshe  into  Englyshe,"  it  was  printed  in  11 83  by  "William 
Caxton,  at  his  press  in  "Westminster.  There  is  also  in  maiiu- 
script  on  vellum,  another  English  translatiDii  "  made  by  Johan 
the  preeste,"  which  is  preserved  in  the  University  library  at 
Cambridge.     This  copy  concludes  with  the  following  colophon  : 

•  Tho  Ancient  Pociii  of  Uuilliiurno  do  Guilovillc,  cnlitlid  Le  J'rlrritiaye  dt 
rjlomme,  compared  with  Iho  J'il;/rim'ii  Progrtii  of  John  lliinyun.  KditoJ  from 
notoN  collect<-d  by  tbo  luto  2Ir.  ^'uthutiicl  llill;  [iiy  MisaCutJ.  Lunduu  :  U.  .M. 
Pickering,  1868. 


284  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xii. 

"  Here  endeth  the  Romance  by  the  monk  of  the  Cisteaux,  in 
France ;  of  the  pilgrymage  of  the  lyffe  of  the  manhood, 
which  is  made  for  good  pilgrymes  y*  in  this  world  such  waye 
wol  holde  that  would  goo  to  good  haven,  and  that  they  have 
heven's  loye,  ymagined  after  the  manner  of  the  Romans  of  the 
Roos."* 

The  writer  tells  us  how  he  had  a  dream  in  which  there  was 
given  to  him  a  sight  within  a  mirror  large  and  bright  of  the 
fair  city  of  heaven,  a  sight  which  stirred  his  soul  to  go  thither 
on  pilgrimage.     He  describes  what  the  city  was  like,  and  what 
people  he  saw  there,  doctors  and  prelates,  canons,  and  austin 
friars,  "  with  other  folk  full  divers  both  temporal  and  secular." 
Setting  out  on  this  pilgrimage,  with  staff  and  scrip,  he  meets 
Grace  Dieu,  a  lady  of  great  fairness  and  noblesse,  who  asks  him 
wherefore  he  weeps  as  he  goes,  to  whom  he  makes  reply  that 
he  weeps  because  that  he  is  kept  back  by  the  clog  of  his  mortal 
body  from  flying  upward  to  the  city  of  his  desire.     She  tells 
him  that  she  is  the  helper  of  pilgrims,  bids  him  keep  in  view 
the  wicket-gate  which  none  ever  entered  till  they  had  put  off 
their  mortality,  and  takes  him  to  her  house,  which  he  finds 
he  cannot  enter  without  passing  through  the  waters  of  baptism. 
The  waters  passed,  he  is  received  into  the  house,  a  place  right 
inly  fair,  where  he  sees  personifications  of  Reason  or  Prudence, 
and  Nature,  who  are  attended  also  by  Sapience,  Repentance, 
and    Charity.     After   a   long    allegorical    description    of    the 
Eucharist,  he  is  shown  the  rarities  of  the  place  and  equipped 
for  his  journey.     There  is  given  to  him  a  scrip  of  green  silk 
called  Faith,  and  an  imperishable  staff  of  shittim  wood  called 
Hope  ;  he  is  had  also  to  the  armoury  where  are  heaulmes  and 
gambesons,  gorgerettes,   and   haubergeons,  targes,   and  what- 
ever else  is   needed  for  the  pilgrim's   defence.      Grace  Dieu 
presents  him  with  a  gambeson  or  coat  of  mail  called  Patience, 
telling  him  that  it  was  wrought  by  the  great  armourer  above 
who,  without  tools,  created  the  sun  and  starry  host ;  that  it  is 
proof  against  all  kinds  of  tribulation,  that  it  was  worn  by  our 
Lord  and  the  holy  martyrs,  and  will  resist  like  an  anvil  the 
stroke  of  the  foe.     She  equips  him  also  with  the  helmet  of 
Temperance,  the  gorgette  of  Sobriety,  the  sword  named  Justice, 
*  J.  0.  Halliwell's  Parities  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  1841,  p.  16C. 


"FILGIiLU'S  FliOGFiFSS"  IX  LITERATURE.        285 

and  with  all  other  panoply  complete.  Overweighted,  however, 
with  all  this  equipment,  he  begs  that,  like  David,  he  may  go 
without  it,  which  he  does,  carrying  simply  the  self-same  pebbles 
with  which  David  slew  Goliath. 

Leaving  the  house  of  Grace  Dieu,  he  comes  to  where  the 
ways  part,  on  the  right  sitting  Indus;try  and  on  the  left 
Idleness.  Turning  to  the  right,  after  encountering  and 
escaping  from  Gluttony  and  Lust,  he  meets  with  Wrath  and 
Tribulation,  the  latter  bidding  him  lay  down  his  staff  and 
protect  himself  with  the  shield  and  sword  his  attendant 
Memory  carries.  ^faking  his  prayer  to  the  Virgin  he 
finds  good  and  sure  refuge,  after  which  he  is  assailed  by 
Avarice  and  Necromancy,  also  by  lleresv,  Satan,  Fortune, 
Idolatry,  Sorcery,  and  Gladiicss-of-the-"\Vorld,  M-ith  all  of  whom 
he  holds  colloquies.  In  the  distress  of  this  time  there  comes 
sailing  to  him  a  ship,  on  the  top  of  the  mast  of  which  there  is 
a  cross  whereon  sits  a  milk-white  dove.  From  the  deck  of 
this  ship  there  lands  Grace  Dieu,  who  opens  a  fountain  in  the 
rock,  in  which  the  pilgrim  is  washed  and  purified.  She  then 
offers  him  choice  of  monasteries  for  refuge,  he  fixing  upon  that 
at  Cisteaux,  to  whicli  he  is  fetched  over  by  the  porter,  Dread- 
of-God.  Welcomed  within  this  monastery  by  Charity,  he  is 
instructed  by  Lesson,  and  shown  a  wonderful  mirror  by  Ilagio- 
graphy.  These  teachers  are  succeeded  by  Obedience,  Discip- 
line, Abstinence,  Poverty,  Chastity,  Prayer,  Infirmity,  Old 
Age,  and  Death.  As  Death  runs  him  through  the  body  with 
liis  scythe,  De  Guileville  awakes  with  a  start,  scarcely  knowing 
whether  he  is  dead  or  alive.  To  his  relief  he  hears  tlie  sound 
u{  the  Chaliz  convent  bells,  and  the  crowing  of  the  cocks. 
Brought  back  thus  to  earth  and  time  by  tlie  old  familiar  sounds, 
he  bids  his  reader  retain  wliat  of  good  his  story  may  contain, 
rejecting  the  rest.  So  he  draws  to  u  close,  commending  his 
work  to  all  good  winnowers,  skilled  in  separating  reality  from 
error,  and  truth  from  falsehood. 

Tliat  there  are  several  ideas  in  common  between  Bunyan 
and  Do  Guileville  will  bo  seen  ut  once  ;  the  sight  of  the  city  in 
the  heavens  acting  as  an  incentive  to  pilgrimage,  the  mention 
of  u  wicket-gate,  the  reception  into  the  lunise  of  Grace  Dieu, 
and  the  equipment  of  the  pilgrim  in  the  armoury.     Bui  how 


286  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  xii. 

far  Bunyan  was  indebted  to  De  Guileville,  may  be  matter  of 
question.  The  looking  for  the  city  with  eternal  foundations 
and  the  equipment  of  the  Christian  soul  with  spiritual  armour 
were  New  Testament  ideas  equally  accessible  to  both.  The 
wicket- gate  of  De  Guileville  was  barely  referred  to  in  passing, 
not  taking  actual  shape  in  the  narrative,  and  signified  that  gate 
of  death  which  awaits  every  man  at  the  end  of  the  way ; 
whereas  with  Bunyan  it  was  a  prominent  part  of  the  story,  and 
was  the  strait  gate  through  which  men  enter  upon  a  life  of 
faith.  Finally,  the  house  of  Grace  Dieu  and  the  Palace  Beau- 
tiful are  kindred  in  conception  to  that  household  of  faitb,  the 
Church  of  the  living  God  spoken  of  by  St.  Paul,  and  like  the 
House  of  Mercy  in  Spenser's  "  Faery  Queen,"  may  have  been 
in  part  suggested  by  the  old  houses  of  entertainment  for 
pilgrims  or  travellers  by  the  way. 

There  are  many  works  subsequent  to  this  of  the  Monk  of 
Chaliz,  in  which  we  have  the  regular  introduction  of  the  dream 
and  the  allegory.  The  "  Chemin  de  Yaillance,"  of  Jean  de 
Courcy  (1426)  ;  the  "  Palace  of  Honour,"  by  Gawin  Douglas, 
of  Dunkeld  (1501)  ;  the  "  Golden  Terge  "  of  William  Dunbar 
(1508) ;  the  "Bowse  of  Court,"  of  John  Skelton  (1508) ;  and 
the  "Example  of  Vertu"  (1503)  and  the  "Pastime  of  Plea- 
sure" (1506),  by  Stephen  Hawes  ;  these  being  followed  by  Sir 
David  Lyndsay's  "  Dreme  "  of  1528. 

Passing  from  the  works  of  these  allegorists  we  come  next 
upon  a  series  of  books  relating  to  pilgrims  and  pilgrimages, 
whicb  might  seem  to  be  the  natural  forerunners  of  Bunyan's 
dream.  The  connection,  however,  is  little  more  than  the  mere 
suggestion  contained  in  the  titles.  Some  of  these  are  simply 
descriptions  of  literal  pilgi'images  to  literal  local  shrines,  while 
others  are  nothing  more  than  religious  treatises  or  books  of 
pious  meditation  under  titles  suggestive  of  an  allegorical 
journey.  To  this  latter  class  belong  the  "  Peregrination 
Spirituelle"  of  Pascha  (1576);  the  "  Yiaggio  Spirituale,"  of 
Bellanda  (1578)  ;  the  "  Pilgrimage  to  Paradise,"  of  Leonard 
Wright  (1591);  the  "Pilgrim's  Journey  towards  Heaven," 
of  William  Webster  (1613);  the  "Pilgrim's  Practice,"  by 
Robert  Bruen  (1621)  ;  the  "  Pilgrim's  Passe  to  the  New  Jeru- 
salem," by  M.  P.  Gent  (1659) ;   and  the  *"'  Spiritual  Journey 


"  PIL  GRIM 'S  PRO  GPFSS  "  71V  LITER  A  TURE.       JST 

towards  the  Land  of  Peace"  (1059).  "The  rili^rimarrc  of 
Perfection,"  by  William  Pond  (1526),  like  "  Tho  Pype  or 
Tonne  of  the  lyfe  of  Perfection"  (1532),  is  slightly  allegorical, 
but  in  the  main  both  these  books  are  only  a  sort  of  code  of 
direction  for  monks  and  nuns.  "  The  Pilgrimage  of  Dovekiu 
and  Willekin  to  their  Beloved  in  Jerusalem,"  the  work  of  the 
Dutch  engraver,  Bolswert,  though  popular  onco  and  described 
to  Southey  by  his  friend  Bildcrdijk,  as  "one  of  the  delights  of 
his  childhood,"  is  nothing  more  than  a  weak  and  foolish  story 
in  the  allegorical  vein.  Bernard's  "  Isle  of  Man,"  again, 
though  wise  and  witty,  is,  like  Phineas  Fletcher's  "  Purple 
Island,"  more  akin  to  the  "  Holy  War  "  than  to  the  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress,"  and,  as  Southey  says  of  Bernard's  book,  alike  they 
want  the  charm  of  story  and  that  romantic  interest,  "  which 
holds  children  from  sleep." 

There  is  one  other  book  on  which,  as  preceding  Bunyan's 
Dream  by  only  about  a  dozen  years,  a  word  or  two  must  be 
said,  namely  Bishop  Patrick's  "  Parable  of  the  Pilgrim."  It 
appears  to  have  been  written  in  1GG3  and  published  in  1665, 
during  Bunyan's  first  imprisonment.  Beyond  the  fundamental 
idea  of  a  godly  life  as  a  pilgrimage  there  is  not  much  in  com- 
mon between  the  two  books.  Less  than  twenty  pages  out  of 
Patrick's  five  hundred  sufficed  for  his  storj^  which  is  of  the 
slightest  possible  character,  a  mere  framework,  indeed,  for  con- 
necting together  lengthy  meditations,  discourses,  and  solilo- 
quies. Its  main  purpose  was  to  show  the  superiority  of  the 
Established  Church  over  the  Sectaries  outside.  A  traveller 
named  Theophilus,  weary  of  life's  surroundings,  sets  forth  in 
search  of  a  bettor  land,  when  ho  remembers  to  have  heard  of 
Jerusalem,  to  which  he  resolves  to  go.  But  how  shall  he  get 
thither  ?  Perplexed  by  contradictory  voices  he  has  recourse  to 
a  venerable  man — the  personification  of  the  Church  of  luigland 
— to  whom  ho  resorts  for  advice.  In  the  form  of  elaborate 
discourse  and  exhortation,  this  advice  is  given  so  plentifully 
that  we  find  ourselves  at  tho  two  hundred  and  eightieth  j)agu 
of  a  book  of  five  hundred  and  twenty-seven  pages,  or  more 
than  half  way  througli,  befon^  the  pilgrim  lias  so  much  as  set 
out  on  his  journey.  Tiicoiihilus  tlien  starting  for  Jerusalem 
finds  rough  roads  and  sinks  into  low  spirits,  but  is  comforted  by 


288  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap.  xii. 

receiving  a  letter  from  his  venerable  friend.  But  before  long 
be  is  again  overtaken  by  sadness  of  heart,  when  to  his  great 
delight,  in  a  little  oratory  by  the  wayside,  he  again  meets  with 
his  guide,  who  remonstrates  with  and  encourages  him  through 
some  thirty  pages  more.  After  this  they  arrange  to  travel 
together,  and  are  overtaken  first  by  a  mounted  horseman, 
representing  the  Church  of  Rome,  to  whom  the  guide  says 
some  rather  plain  things  by  way  of  rebuke,  then  by  a  second 
traveller,  who  represents  the  Nonconformists,  and  to  whom 
Theophilus  gives  even  less  quarter  than  his  guide  gave  to  the 
mounted  horseman.  Leaving  these  travellers,  the  pilgrims 
come  to  the  top  of  a  high  hill,  where  they  meet  with  a  knot  of 
excellent  persons  who  are  looking  at  a  fair  prospect  of  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem,  reminding  us  of  Bunyan's  shepherds  on 
the  delectable  mountains.  Again  they  set  forth  and  again 
have  long  discourse  together  on  the  nature  of  religion,  a  chance 
meeting  with  a  third  traveller  leading  them  still  farther  into 
an  elaborate  unfolding  of  justification  by  faith.  The  book 
concludes  with  an  expression  of  gratitude  from  the  pilgrim  to  his 
guide,  and  the  request  that  he  would  always  accompany  him  in 
his  travels. 

Besides  the  dreamers,  story  tellers,  and  didactic  teachers, 
several  of  the  poets  also,  of  the  seventeenth  century,  have 
thrown  the  charm  of  their  genius  round  the  idea  of  life's 
pilgrimage.  Whitney,  in  his  "Emblems"  (1586),  George 
Herbert,  in  his  "  Temple"  (1631),  and  Francis  Quarles,  in  his 
"Emblems"  (1635),  have  each  taken  up  the  conception  in 
verse  ;  as  did  also  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  in  lines  which  somehow 
always  steal  into  our  hearts  : — 

"  Give  me  my  scallop  shell  of  quiet, 

My  staff  of  faith  to  lean  upon, 
My  scrip  of  joy,  immortal  diet, 

My  bottle  of  salvation, 
My  gown  of  glory,  hope's  true  gage ; 
And  thus  I'll  take  my  pilgrimage." 

Often,  however,  as  the  conception  of  the  pilgrim  life  has  found 
utterance,  no  previous  or  subsequent  writer  has  given  expres- 
sion to  it  with  the  same  completeness,  unity,  force,  and  beauty, 
as  Bunyan,  whose  dream  stands  alone  and  unrivalled  in  the 


"  PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS''  IX  LITERATURE.       2S9 

literature  to  which  it  belongs.  Before  we  ask  whether  he  was 
indebted  to  other  men  for  the  imagery  of  his  book  we  must 
remember  that  he  was  in  prison  when  that  book  was  written. 
Access,  therefore,  to  the  literature  of  mediicval  romance,  to 
such  writers  as  De  Guileville  and  Edmund  Spenser  would  be 
impossible.  And  even  if  he  had  not  been  in  prison  it  ma}^ 
be  doubted  whether  a  book  like  that  of  De  Guileville  would  be 
likely  to  come  under  hi§  notice.  It  existed  in  old  French  and 
in  what  even  in  Bunyan's  time  had  become  almost  obsolete 
English,  and  while  one  would  certainly  be  unintelligible  the 
other  would  probably  be  inaccessible.  The  only  printed 
English  translation  of  which  we  have  any  certain  knowledge 
is  that  issued  by  William  Caxton,  and  there  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  even  two  centuries  ago  "  Caxtons  "  were  often 
within  the  reach  of  men  in  Bunyan's  walk  of  life.  No  doubt 
the  pilgrim  idea  had  often  appeared  in  literature,  but  libraries 
of  English  literature  were  not  then  so  readily  available  to 
mechanics  and  tinkers  as  they  have  come  to  be  since. 

Certainly  Bunyan  had  not  been  intentionally  gathering 
materials  beforehand,  for,  as  he  tells  us,  the  idea  of  the  book 
dawned  upm  him  in  quite  unlooked-for  way  while  he  was  in 
prison,  and  while  engaged  upon  a  different  line  of  thought: 

**  WTien  at  the  first  I  took  my  pen  in  liand, 
Thus  for  to  wrilo  ;  I  did  not  undi-rstand 
That  I  at  all  should  make  a  littlt;  book 
In  such  a  mode ;  nay,  I  had  undertook 
To  make  unothi-r,  which  when  alinost  done, 
Before  1  was  aware  I  this  begun." 

The  crowding  fancies  came  so  thick  and  fast  that  he  felt  he 
must  have  a  care  : 

"  I'll  put  you  by  yoursclvos,  lest  you  at  last 
Sliould  jirovf?  ad  infinitum  and  eat  out 
The  book  that  I  already  am  about." 

On  this  question  of  the  originality  of  his  famous  Dream, 
Jiunyan  himhelf  has  a  right  to  bo  lieard,  and  he  luis  spoken 
with  most  unmistakable  jdainness.  Between  1G78,  when  tho 
work  in  (jinhtion  was  publihh<'<l,  and  1(JS2,  wlu-n  he  sent  forth 
hJH  "  lldly  War,"  it  appears  tliat  its  originality  was  more  than 


290     •  JOUN  B  UNYAN.  [chap.  xii. 

once  challenged  by  the  men  of  his  own  time,  and  to  their  chal- 
lenge he  replied  thus  in  his  own  vigorous  fashion  : — 

"  Some  say  the  Pilgrims  Progress  is  not  mine, 
Insinuating  as  if  I  would  shine 
In  name,  and  fame,  by  the  worth  of  another." 

This  suggestion  he  repels  with  scorn — "  John,  such  dirt-heap 
never  was  since  God  converted  him  : " 

"  Manner  and  matter  too,  was  all  mine  own, 
Nor  was  it  unto  any  mortal  known 
Till  I  had  done  it.     Nor  did  any  then 
By  Books,  by  wits,  by  tongues,  or  hand,  or  pen, 
Add  five  words  to  it,  or  wrote  half  a  line 
Thereof  :  the  whole  and  ev'ry  whit  is  mine." 

Nothing  could  be  more  explicit  than  this,  or  coming  from  a 
man  so  conscientious,  more  decisive.  Indebtedness  there  un- 
doubtedly was,  such  indeed  as  not  even  the  most  exalted  genius 
can  free  itself  from,  the  unconscious  indebtedness  which  in  the 
current  thought  of  the  present  inherits  the  transmitted  life  of 
the  past.  The  endeavour  to  hunt  up  recondite  sources  for 
Bunyan's  inspiration  has,  in  truth,  been  a  little  overstrained. 
It  is  not  worth  while  to  go  to  Sir  John  Mandeville's  "  Valley 
Perilous "  for  the  suggestion  of  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of 
Death  while  we  have  the  twentv-third  Psalm  ;  or  to  the  en- 
graving  of  the  Christian  Soldier  by  Jerome  Wierix  for  the 
arming  of  the  pilgrim  while  we  have  the  sixth  chapter  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  ;  or  to  De  Guileville  for  the  wicket- 
gate  while  we  have  the  strait- gate  of  the  Gospels.  Neither 
indeed  is  it  necessary  to  go  back  to  mediaival  chroniclers  of 
whom  probably  Bunyan  never  so  much  as  heard,  or  to  De 
Guileville's  "  Pilgrimage  of  Man,"  or  Spenser's  "Faery  Queen  " 
for  the  main  conception  of  life  as  a  warfare  and  a  pilgrimage. 
The  thought  of  life  as  a  warfare  goes  at  least  as  far  back  as 
Paul's  earnest  call  to  Timothy  to  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith  ; 
and  the  conception  of  life  as  a  pilgrimage,  common  to  all  the 
centuries,  carries  us  back  even  farther  still  to  those  first 
wanderers  from  the  Chaldean  plains,  who  set  forth  in  search  of 
the  city  which  hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  is 
God     Bunj'aa  was  steeped  in  his  Bible,  and  what  indebtedness 


I 


''PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS''  IX  LITERATURE.        291 

there  was  was  mainly  to  that.  The  Dreamer  ia  Bedford  gaol 
derived  his  inspiration  from  the  same  source  as  the  great 
Florentine  who  preceded  him  b}^  more  than  three  centuries. 
The  ''  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  is  an  English  flower,  as  the  "  Divina 
Conimedia  "  is  a  Tuscan  flower,  grown  on  Jewish  soil.  Dante 
may  accept  Virgil's  guidance  in  his  mystic  pilgrimage  through 
unseen  realms,  and  he  may  mingle  the  classic  element  with  the 
Christian  in  his  visions,  but  the  subject  of  his  great  Trilogy — 
the  thought  of  "  the  human  soul  placed  for  its  trial  in  a  fearful 
and  wonderful  world,  with  relations  to  time  and  matter,  history 
and  nature,  good  and  evil,  the  beautiful,  the  intelligible,  and 
the  mysterious,  sin  and  grace,  the  infinite  and  the  eternal  "* — 
this  came  to  Dante  as  it  came  to  Bunyan,  from  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  the  teachers  of  both. 

And  if  we  may  digress  for  a  moment,  one  can  scarcely  refrain 
from  referring  to  one  or  two  points  of  resemblance  between 
these  two  heaven- kindled  souls,  their  life  and  work.  First 
their  visions  open  out  alike.  Bunyan  lights  upon  a  den  in  the 
First  Part,  and  wanders  into  a  wood  in  the  Second  Part,  where 
he  dreams  his  dream.  Dante  also  find  himself  in  a  dark  wood 
and  full  of  sleep  when  the  vision  descends  upon  him.  Then  botli 
writers  treat  of  invisible  things,  and  lift  up  to  view  that  ideal 
of  life  which  the  men  around,  distracted  by  the  interests  and 
passions  of  the  hour,  had  lost  from  siglit.  Alike  they  are 
animated  by  earnest  purpose  while  yet  kindling  with  the  glow 
of  imagination,  and  alike  they  have  the  same  simple  certainty 
and  strength  of  language,  the  one  wielding  the  vigorous  Tuscan 
dialect,  the  other,  the  picturescjue  English  of  the  common 
people  round  liim.  Then,  too,  both  these  great  souls  had  been 
schooled  in  that  suff'cring,  out  of  which  so  much  of  life's  noblest 
work  ha-s  come.  The  strong  earnest  face  of  the  great  Florentine 
comes  up  before  us  from  la  ra/ie  d'ahi-ssu  do/oro.so,  and  his  visions 
are  born  out  of  years  of  disappointment  and  weary  wander- 
ingH  in  exile  ;  while  tho  great  Eiiglisliman  in  his  inward  lift* 
tarried  long  at  Sinai  to  see  the  fire  and  the  cloud  and  the  dark- 
ness, and  in  his  outward  life  longer  still  amidst  the  gloom  and 
captivity  of  his  prison  days.  At  first  sight  Dante's  Trilogy 
and  Bunyuu'M  iUlegory  may  seem  to  move  in  separate  spheres, 

•   IC.  W.  ChuTch  —  DaiiU,  p.  02. 

u2 


292  JOBN  B  TINY  AN.  [chap.  xii. 

the  one  taking  us  into  the  world  of  shades,  the  other  confining 
us  to  earth  and  time  ;  but,  as  a  countryman  of  Dante's  with  pro- 
found insight  has  shown,  there  is  an  underlying  unity  between 
the  two.  They  represent  the  two  parts  into  which,  from  the 
Christian  point  of  view,  the  history  of  the  human  soul  must  be 
divided,  and  thus  the  conceptions  of  the  one  complete  those  of 
the  other.  "  In  the  poem  of  the  Englishman,"  says  Zumbini, 
*'  we  have  the  first  part,  the  vicissitudes  and  condition  of  the 
soul  while  it  is  on  earth,  the  first  life ;  in  the  poem  of  the 
Italian  we  have  the  last  part,  the  state  of  the  soul  in  the  world 
beyond,  the  second  life.  Death  is  at  once  the  limit  which  divides, 
and  the  bond  which  unites  the  two  epics.  With  Bunyan  we 
reach,  but  do  not  pass  the  threshold  of  heaven  and  hell :  with 
Dante,  no  sooner  does  the  pilgrimage  begin  than  the  earthly 
world  is  left  behind.  And  yet  of  those  two  parts  of  human 
history,  the  one  could  not  exist  without  the  other,  and  therefore 
each  poet,  while  taking  only  one  part  for  his  theme,  founded 
his  conception  upon  both,  showing  his  profound  understanding 
of  the  whole  ideal  history  of  the  Christian  soul."* 

Passing  now  from  the  question  of  the  originality  of  the 
"Pilgrim's  Progress  "  we  come  to  ask  what  were  the  elements 
of  its  power,  the  secret  of  its  success  ?  M.  Taine,  whose  sketch 
of  Bunyan  is  as  like  to  the  Dreamer  of  Bedford  gaol  as  Houbil- 
lac's  statue  of  Shakespeare  in  its  posturing  self-consciousness  to 
the  great  Dramatist  himself,  has  a  singularly  infelicitous  way 
of  accounting  for  its  wide-spread  influence.  He  says  :  "After 
the  Bible,  the  book  most  widely  read  in  England  is  the  '  Pil- 
grim's Progress '  by  John  Bunyan.  The  reason  is,  that  the 
basis  of  Protestantism  is  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  grace, 
and  that  no  writer  has  equalled  Bunyan  in  making  this  doctrine 
understood."t  Doubtless  Bunyan  believed  in  the  doctrine  of 
Justification  by  Faith,  with  all  his  heart  and  soul,  and  it  lies 
at  the  basis,  penetrating  through  and  through  his  conception 
of  the  Christian  life.  But  many  people  have  been  charmed  by 
this  book  who  do  not  accept  this  doctrine,  and  we  must  go 
farther  afield  for  an  adequate  explanation  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  "  in- 
fluence.    Foremost  among  its  literary  qualities  is  its  perfect 

*  Sngcjl  Criticl,  di  Bonaventura  Zumbini,  Napoli,  187G. 

t  History  of  English  Literature,  by  H.  A.  Taine,  i.,  p.  398. 


■  •  riL  GRIM '  S  PR  0  ORESS  "  IX  LITER  A  TFRE.       293 

spontaneousness.  It  has  all  the  simple  freedom  of  life.  There 
are  no  signs  of  toil,  no  inartistic  traces  of  elaboration ;  the 
vision  grows  up  like  a  flower,  effortless  and  fair.  And  this  not 
because  art  has  succeeded  in  concealing  art,  but  because  the 
artist  himself  has  been  taken  captive  by  his  own  creation.  It 
has  that  one  supreme  quality  of  all  true  inspiration,  that  it  is 
not  so  much  the  man  deliberately  taking  possession  of  the 
subject  as  it  is  the  subject  coming  down  upon  and  bearing  away 
the  man: 

"  Thus  it  was  :  I  writini?  of  the  way 
And  race  of  saints,  in  this  our  Gospel-day, 
Fell  suddenly  into  an  allegory 
About  their  journey  and  the  way  to  glory, 
In  more  than  twenty  things  which  I  set  down  ; 
This  done  I  twenty'  more  had  in  my  crown, 
And  they  again  bogan  to  multiply,       , 
Like  sparks  that  from  the  coals  of  fire  do  fly." 

It  has  been  said  that  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  is  the  last 
English  book  that  was  written  without  any  thought  of  a 
reviewer.  It  may  be  said  also  that  it  was  written  without  even 
any  thought  of  a  reader : 

"  T  did  not  think 
To  show  to  all  the  world  my  Pen  and  Ink, 
In  such  a  mode  ;  I  only  thought  to  make, 
I  kne*7  not  what ;  nor  did  I  undertake 
Thereby  to  please  ray  neighbour ;  no,  not  I, 
I  did  it  mine  own  self  to  gratifio." 

The  construction  of  this  book,  wliich  was  to  place  him  among 
the  Immortals,  never  became  to  him  the  serious  business  of  life, 
the  burden  of  exacting  toil: 

"  Noithor  did  I  but  vacant  soauons  spend 
In  thin  my  Rcnbblo;  nor  did  I  ijitdid 
liut  to  divert  myself  in  doing  thix 
From  womcr  thaughtH  which  make  mo  do  amisa. 
'llimi  I  net  pc-n  to  p«p«T  with  didight, 
And  quickly  had  my  thoughtit  in  black  and  white. 
For  having  now  my  muthod  by  tho  end, 
Still  iiM  I  pull'd,  it  cumo ;  and  so  I  punn'd 
It  down,  until  it  cuuin  ut  luMt  to  bo, 
For  length  and  breadth,  the  bignvMi  which  you  imhj." 

This   in   Hunvan's  own  arcoiint    of  the   prodiictiDii  of  bin  dwn 


294  JOHN  BUN Y AN.  [chap.  xii. 

book.  He  tells  us  all  he  knows,  but  then  even  be  knows  not  all. 
Genius  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  it  is  the  breath  from  beyond  the 
instrument  that  creates  the  music  and  gives  to  it  its  mystic 
power  of  ravishment.  That  which  touches  us  most  deeply  is 
the  charm  of  free  life,  that  indescribable  something  which  lays 
hold  of  us  wherever  we  find  it,  either  in  the  works  of  genius  or 
the  exuberance  of  sportive  childhood,  in  the  jocund  gladness  of 
trees  and  birds  and  flowers,  or  in  the  free  wild  life  of  forest  and 
prairie.  To  get  at  the  secret  of  that  is  to  get  at  the  mystery 
of  life,  that  mystery  which  lies  at  the  fount  of  being  and  is 
wrapped  in  the  shadows  which  veil  it  round.  Well  has  it  been 
said  that  "  the  work  which  man  has  brooded  over,  and  at  last 
created,  is  the  foster-child  too  of  that  wisdom  which  reaches 
from  end  to  end,  strongly  and  sweetly  disposing  all  things." 

The  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  while  it  has  thus  free  spontaneous 
life,  is  marked  also  by  a  dramatic  unity  such  as  is  not  always 
possessed  by  even  greater  books.  The  latest,  who  is  perhaps 
also  the  profoundest  critic  of  Spenser's  great  work,*  "  The  Faery 
Queen,"  has  contrasted  for  us  its  characteristic  excellences  and 
defects.  He  points  out  its  quaint  stateliness  and  grandeur,  the 
stateliness  of  highly  artificial  conditions  of  society,  the  gran- 
deur like  that  of  some  great  national  spectacle.  He  dwells  upon 
its  wonderful  sweetness  and  beauty — sweetness  and  beauty  like 
that  of  the  most  gorgeous  of  summer  gardens,  in  the  glory  and 
brilliancy  of  its  varied  blooms,  in  the  wonder  of  its  strange 
forms  of  life,  in  the  changefulness  of  its  exquisite  and  delicious 
scents.  He  points  out  also  that  while  thus  lavish  of  external 
beauty  Spenser  has  at  the  same  time  joined  to  it  the  counter- 
charm  of  purity,  truth,  and  duty,  this  too  with  a  music  and 
melody  of  verse  such  as  none  had  reached  in  English  poetry 
before  him.  At  the  same  time,  as  an  impartial  judge,  he  is 
bound  to  say  that  on  the  other  side  there  are  in  this  great 
English  work  some  very  grave  defects.  The  "  Faery  Queen," 
he  justly  says,  by  its  first  aspect  rather  inspires  respect  than 
attracts  and  satisfies,  and  the  reader  has  therefore  to  cross  the 
bar  and  persist  in  his  search  before  he  fairly  enters  into  the 
spirit  of  the  book.  Further,  it  carries  with  it  no  adequate 
account  of  its  own  story,  and  the  poet  gives  up  all  attempt  to 
*  English  Men  of  Letters — Spenser,  by  R.  W.  Church. 


"  piLGnnr'6  progress  "  in  liter  a  ture.      2nj 

liold  the  scheme  together.  Kither  he  exhausts  his  proper 
allegorj',  or  he  gets  tired  of  it,  and  the  poem  becomes  a  mere 
receptacle  for  whatever  happens  to  interest  the  poet  himself. 
The  book  has  really  no  unity.  As  much  as  the  "  Arabian 
Nights  "  or  the  "  Idylls  of  the  Kin*'"  it  becomes  a  mere  coUec- 
tion  of  separate  tales  and  allegories.  It  is  simply  a  wilderness 
in  which  the  reader  is  left  to  wander,  and  he  does  not  lose  his 
way,  because  there  is  no  way  to  lose.  The  poet  once  on  to  his 
story  never  knows  where  to  stop.  It  is  like  wading  among 
unmown  grass.     He  drowns  us  in  words. 

This  description  of  the  defects  of  the  "  Faery  Queen,"  by 
Dean  Church,  as  just  as  it  is  powerful,  may  be  almost  entirely 
reversed  in  the  case  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."  There  is  no 
bar  to  cross  before  our  interest  is  aroused.  From  this  first 
sentence,  "  As  I  walked  through  the  wilderness  of  this  world  I 
lighted  on  a  certain  place  where  was  a  Den,  and  I  laid  me  down 
in  that  place  to  sleep,  and  as  I  slept  I  dreamed  a  Dream,"  the 
reader's  interest  is  arrested  and  retained.  The  unity  of  the 
story  is  kept  up  from  point  to  point.  There  are  incongruities, 
of  course,  which  could  easily  be  pointed  out,  as  there  probably 
must  be  in  any  allegory  which  is  long  sustained,  and  in  which 
this  matter-of-fact  world  blends  its  scenes  and  surroundings 
with  those  of  the  spiritual  universe.  Put  from  the  moment  we 
see  the  man  in  rags  setting  out  with  his  burden  our  interest  in 
his  fortunes  never  flags  till  he  is  fairly  within  the  portals  of 
the  celestial  city.  The  episodes  by  the  way  never  draw  us  so 
far  aside  that  we  forget  the  main  story,  but  they  rather  con- 
tribute to  its  effect.  There  is  no  unmown  grass  of  weariness  to 
wade  through,  no  wilderness  of  tedium  in  which  to  wander, 
liunyan's  characters  never  linger,  and  therefore  never  tire  us. 
As  soon  as  they  step  on  to  the  scene  wo  feel  their  personality 
so  vividly  that  wo  are  sure  we  should  know  th<'m  again.  They 
proceed  at  once  to  instruct  or  amuse  or  interest,  having  done 
which  they  disappear,  leaving  us  regretful  they  have  vanished 

The  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  is  interesting  also  not  merely  for 
its  dramatic  unity,  but  for  the  rapidity  and  power  with  which 
its  characters  are  drawn.  Py  u  few  strokes  only,  sctmclimes  l»y 
the  mere  giving  of  a  name,  an  abstraction   ris«'8  up  clothed   iu 


296  JORN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xii. 

flesh  and  blood.  We  seem  at  once  to  know  the  brisk  lad 
Ignorance,  of  the  county  of  Conceit ;  the  man  Temporary,  who 
lived  in  a  town  two  miles  off  of  Honesty,  and  next  door  to 
Mr.  Turnback  ;  Mr.  Anything,  Mr.  Smoothman,  Mr.  Facing- 
both-Ways,  Sir  Having  Greedy,  Mr.  Highmind,  Lady  Feign- 
ing's  daughter,  and  Mrs.  Lechery,  who  is  such  a  well-bred 
gentlewoman ;  Lord  Time-server,  and  Madam  Wanton ;  the 
young  woman  whose  name  was  Dull,  with  her  neighbours  Slow- 
pace,  Sleepy-head,  and  Short-wind.  How  vividly  Obstinate 
stands  before  us  with  his  dogged  pertinacity.  Pliable  with  his 
feeble  vacillation,  and  Madam  Bubble,  picture  of  this  vain 
world — a  tall,  comely  dame,  something  of  a  swarthy  complexion, 
who  speaks  very  smoothly,  giving  you  a  smile  at  the  end  of  a 
sentence,  wears  a  great  purse  by  her  side,  and  has  her  hand 
often  in  it,  fingering  her  money  as  if  that  was  her  heart's 
delight.  The  forms  moving  to  and  fro  in  the  Palace  Beauti- 
ful— Innocence,  Prudence,  Piety,  and  Discretion — are  not 
mere  abstractions,  but  creations  of  womanly  grace,  making 
the  place  brighter  with  their  presence.  What  a  living  perso- 
nification we  have  of  despair  in  the  man  in  the  iron  cage,  of 
terror  in  the  man  awaking  from  his  dream  of  judgment,  of 
earthly-mindedness  in  the  man  with  the  muck-rake.  What  a 
picture  is  presented  to  us  of  the  way  in  which  a  soul  can  tor- 
ment itself  by  vain  regrets  and  bitter  self-reproaches  as  we 
read  how  Giant  Despair  gets  him  a  grievous  crab-tree  cudgel, 
and  after  rating  his  prisoners  like  dogs,  falls  upon  them, 
and  beats  them  fearfully,  in  such  sort  that  they  were  not 
able  to  help  themselves,  or  to  turn  them  upon  the  floor.  What 
a  picture,  too,  we  have  of  the  shabbiness  of  a  sham  life,  where 
hypocrites  are  described  as  going  "  not  uprightly,  but  all 
awry  with  their  feet ;  one  shoe  goes  inward,  another  outward, 
and  their  Hosen  out  behind  ;  there  a  Rag  and  there  a  Pent,  to 
the  disparagement  of  their  Lord." 

There  is  great  humanness  in  the  book.  We  have  homely 
touches  about  "  the  dish  of  milk  well-crumbed,"  brought  out 
for  the  boys  in  the  house  of  Gains,  and  humorous  thrusts  about 
Hopeful's  courage  when  the  thieves  were  at  a  distance,  and  at 
the  way  in  which  "  Peter  would  swagger,  ay,  he  would ;  but 
who   so  foiled  and  run  down   by  villains  as  he  ?  "     We  have 


I 


''PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS''  IX  LITERATURE.      297 

touches  of  pathos  which,  to  use  a  favourite  phrase  of  Buuvan'a, 
make  the  water  to  stand  in  our  ej-es  ;  and  strokes  of  pleasantry 
vTliich  bring  back  the  smile  to  our  faces.  We  walk  in  the 
King's  gardens,  into  which  the  children  of  the  land  of  Beulah 
go  to  gather  nosegays  for  the  pilgrims,  bringing  them  to  them 
with  much  aflfection.  Our  senses  are  regaled  with  the  fragrance 
of  camphor,  with  spikenard,  and  saffron,  calamus,  and  cinna- 
mon, with  trees  of  frankincense,  myrrh,  and  aloes,  with  all 
chief  spices  ;  and  with  these  the  pilgrims'  chambers  were  per- 
fumed while  they  stayed  there.  We  hear  through  the  inter- 
laciiigs  of  green  leaves  the  melodious  notes  of  the  country 
birds,  and  the  sweet  sounds  of  distant  bells.  Then  within 
doors  we  have  the  pleasant  music  of  virginals,  the  social  con- 
verse round  the  cheerful  table,  where  the  fruit  is  spread,  and 
where  there  is  the  cracking  of  nuts,  and,  to  keep  Old  Honest 
from  nodding,  the  reading  of  riddles,  such  riddles  as  this: 

"He  that  ^^-ill  kill,  must  first  be  overcome; 
Who  live  abroad  would,  first  must  die  at  home  ,  " 

and  this  other  : — 

"  A  man  there  was  though  some  did  count  him  mad, 
The  more  ho  cast  away,  the  more  ho  had." 

At  another  time  we  find  ourselves  joining  a  party  of  pilgrims 
who,  with  country  dance,  are  making  merry  out  of  doors  over 
the  downfall  of  Giant  Despair.  For  "  Christiana,  if  need  was, 
could  play  upon  the  viol,  and  her  daughter  Mercy  upon  the 
Lute  ;  so,  since  they  were  so  merry  disposed,  she  played  them 
a  Lesson,  and  Keady-to-halt  would  dance.  So  he  took  J)e- 
spondency's  Daughter  named  Much-afraid  by  tlie  hand,  and  to 
dancing  they  went  in  the  Road.  True  ho  could  not  dance 
without  one  Crutch  in  his  hand,  hut,  I  pioraise  you,  he 
footed  it  well.  Also  the  Girl  was  to  be  commended,  for  slie 
answered  the  music  handsomely." 

But  with  all  its  liomeliness,  humour,  and  humannoss  the 
book  is  never  coarse  or  unclean.  Dean  Church,  in  the  Kketcli 
of  Spenser,  to  which  refi-rence  has  been  made,  wliih-  doing 
justice  to  his  great  poem,  its  stateliness  and  grandeur,  its  e.\- 
quiHito  BwcotucHS  and  beauty,  and  the  music  and  melody  of  its 


298  JOHN  B  UNTAN.  [chap.  xii. 

verse,  feels  compelled  to  refer  to  one  drawback  and  say,  that 
Spenser  does  not  know  what  to  leave  unsaid  ;  that  he  gives  us 
pictures  from  which  we  shrink,  and  introduces  scenes  and  de- 
scriptions which  may  have  been  playfully  and  innocently  pro- 
duced, but  which  it  is  certainly  not  easy  to  dwell  upon  innocently 
now.  On  the  other  hand.  Professor  Masson,  treating  of  the 
literature  of  the  Restoration  period,  calls  our  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  taste  of  the  tinker  of  Bedford  in  matters  of  speech 
was  more  fastidious  and  cleanly  than  that  of  a  good  many  of 
the  scholars  and  men  of  letters  of  the  time  who  had  been  edu- 
cated at  the  universities.  This  cleanness  of  speech  was  the 
outcome  of  a  lofty  ideal  of  soul.  The  style  is  the  man,  and  the 
man  had  for  the  keynote  of  his  book  high-minded  purity,  and 
for  the  soul  of  his  religion  a  noble  scorn  for  all  that  was  base 
and  selfish  and  mean.  The  manhood  within  him  had  too  much 
self-respect,  too  much  godly  loyalty  to  life's  ideal,  to  bedabble 
itself  in  the  mire. 

Bunyan's  real  humanness  also  led  him  to  deal  with  man  as 
man  apart  from  all  the  social  distinctions  of  life.  His  book 
forms  a  link  of  transition  from  Elizabethan  to  modern  times, 
and,  in  common  with  Wordsworth  and  George  Eliot,  he  possesses 
this  merit,  that  he  sees  with  profound  insight  the  real  greatness 
of  the  lowliest  life.  His  characters  belong  to  a  commonplace 
region  ;  they  are  of  the  plain  burgher  type,  to  be  met  with 
every  day  in  an  ordinary  midland  town.  Yet  what  a  world  of 
passion  glows  behind  all  that  quiet  exterior  !  What  stern 
tragedy  unfolds  itself,  what  unfathomable  depths  lie  yawning, 
what  delectable  heights  rise  gleaming  when  the  sober  grey  up- 
lifts itself  !  The  matter-of-fact  people  met  on  the  road  between 
Bedford  town  and  Elstow  village  take  their  place  in  the  great 
commonwealth  of  universal  thought,  and  are  the  revealers  of 
humanity  in  its  grandest  aspects  and  its  most  sublime  relation- 
ships. Behind  them  are  the  stars,  and  behind  the  stars,  height 
over  height,  are  the  angels  of  God.  It  is  this  universality  of 
thought  that  gives  to  the  book  its  large  catholicity  of  feeling. 
Once  within  the  charm  of  its  story  we  are  out  of  the  reach  of 
sectarian  clamour.  He  was  too  much  of  an  Englishman,  and 
too  near  the  days  of  Queen  Mary  and  the  Spanish  Armada  not 
to  have  a  fling  at   the  Pope ;  but  with  the  exception  of  that 


' '  PIL  GlilJf'S  PR  0  GRESS ' '  IN  LITER  A  PURE.        299 

passing  glance  into  the  cave  where  the  two  giants,  Pope  and 
Pagan,  dwelt  in  the  old  time,  we  have  nothing  to  mark  the 
writer's  ecclesiastical  whereabouts.  Even  this  Romanists  have 
left  out  without  detriment  to  his  story  when  they  printed  his 
book.  That  book  has  been  truly  described  as  one  of  the  few 
which  act  as  a  religious  bond  to  the  whole  of  English  Christen- 
dom, as  one  which,  with  perhaps  six  others,  and  equally  with 
any  one  of  those  six  has,  after  the  English  Bible,  contributed 
to  the  common  religious  culture  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.* 

He  who  is  nearest  to  the  Bible  is  nearest  to  the  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress"  in  its  comprehensive  Christ-like  spirit.  He  belongs 
to  that  region  where  men  are  neither  of  Paul,  nor  A  polios,  nor 
Cephas,  but  of  Christ.  And  as  there  is  no  nationality  in  that 
Christ  who  on  His  human  side  is  the  universal  man,  so  he 
whose  work  comes  nearest  to  Christ  comes  nearest  to  the  uni- 
versal heart.  This  is  why  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  has  found 
its  way  to  almost  every  people  under  heaven.  It  is  one  of  the 
first  books  translated  by  the  missionary  who  seeks  to  give  true 
thoughts  of  God  and  life  to  heathen  men,  because  it  is  one  of 
the  few  books  that  can  easily  make  themselves  at  home  among 
nations  the  most  diverse.  It  lends  itself  so  readily  to  idiomatic 
thought  and  dialectic  variety,  and  so  livingly  touches  the  uni- 
versal heart  beating  under  all  nationalities  that,  as  has  been 
beautifully  said,  "  it  follows  the  Bible  from  land  to  land  as  the 
singing  of  the  birds  follows  the  dawn."  The  reason  is  not  far 
to  seek.  More  than  half  a  century  ago  Macaulay  pointed  out 
that  "  the  '  Pilgrim's  Progress '  is  the  only  book  of  its  kind 
that  possesses  a  strong  human  interest,  that  while  other  alle- 
gories only  amuse  the  fancy,  this  has  been  read  by  thousands 
with  tears."  It  not  merely  gives  pleasure  to  the  intellect  by  its 
wit  and  ingenuity,  it  gets  hold  of  tiie  heart  by  its  life-grip. 
With  dec])e8t  pathos  it  enters  into  that  stern  battle  so  real  to 
all  of  u.s,  into  those  heart-experiences  which  make  up  for  all  the 
discipline  of  life.  It  is  this  especially  which  has  given  to  it  the 
mighty  hold  which  it  has  always  bad  upon  the  toiling  poor,  and 
made  it  the  one  book  above  all  books,  well  thumbed  and  worn 
to  tatter.H  among  them. 

Nor  i^  thi.s  its  only  heart-po\VL-r.       W'lillc!  written   spi  tii»IIy 

•  Dunn  Stanley— AddrcM  ut  Ucdford,  187 ». 


300  JOHN  BUN Y AN.  [chap.  xir. 

for  no  one  class,  it  has  found  its  way  to  the  affections  of  every 
class,  and  secured  the  homage  of  cultured  and  uncultured  alike. 
Every  one  knows  what  a  charm  it  has  for  children  ;  it  has  a 
charm,  too,  for  those  who  are  in  the  thick  of  the  fight,  for  those 
also  who  have  reached  the  quiet  evening  of  life.  This  charm  is 
that  of  an  ideal  future,  ever  alluring  us  with  its  visions  of  bright- 
ness. In  language  as  truthful  as  it  is  eloquent  it  has  been  said  : 
"  In  lonely  houses  of  shepherds  and  ploughmen  it  is  frequently 
the  only  indication  of  any  kind  of  literature  that  may  be  seen. 
They  may  be  careless  of  the  grandeur  of  their  silent  glens,  they 
may  not  have  one  responsive  chord  to  the  subtle  loveliness  of 
nature ;  but  their  attachment  to  such  books  as  this  shows 
that  the  sublime  in  human  life  is  even  a  still  more  subtle  factor 
in  the  formation  of  character  than  the  sublime  in  nature  ;  and  on 
the  other  hand,  that  the  love  of  the  beautiful  cannot  be  eradi- 
cated even  by  the  most  slavish  toil  and  hardship.  Such  people 
will  spell  over  the  '  Pilgrim's  Progress,'  after  a  hard  day's 
work,  by  their  farthing  rushlight,  and  they  will  laugh  and 
exult  and  tremble  and  sigh  with  poor  Christian  when  they  do 
not  even  understand  what  poor  Christian's  joy  or  trouble  is  ; 
but  they  all  in  a  measure  understand  what  is  meant  by  the 
celestial  country  for  which  this  homely  hero  with  the  burden 
on  his  shoulder  is  bound,  and  without  measure  they  can  all 
dream  of  the  solace  and  glory  of  so  heavenly  a  paradise."  * 

*  David  Sime. 


xiri. 


LXTERYAL  BETWEEN  THE  "PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS" 
AXD  TUE  "HOLY  WAR."     167G— 1G82. 

BuNYAX  wrote  the  First  Part  of  the  "  Pila:rim's  Progress  " 
when  he  was  forty-seveQ  and  the  Second  Part  when  he  was  fifty- 
five,  the  "  Holy  War"  coining  in  between.  What  may  there- 
fore be  regarded  as  the  flowering  time  of  his  genius  came  late 
in  life.  In  this  respect  he  more  nearly  resembles  his  great 
contemporary  John  Milton,  while  contrasting  with  that  other 
gifted  soul,  with  whom,  otherwise,  he  had  so  manj-  points  in 
common — Robert  Burns.  Bunyan  and  Burns,  alike  in  their 
simple  ancestry,  their  original  genius  and  their  wonderful 
heart-power  over  men  in  every  walk  of  life,  came  thus  variously 
to  the  full  development  of  their  powers.  Burns  had  done 
most  of  his  best  work  before  he  was  thirty  and  had  passed 
away  before  he  was  forty,  while  at  fifty  Bunyan  stood  scarcely 
midway  between  the  two  parts  of  his  greatest  work,  Milton 
bearing  him  company  so  far  as  this  that  his  "  Paradise  Lost" 
was  not  produced  till  he  was  fifty-seven.  It  may  be  mentioned 
by  the  wny  that  while  Bunyan's  mother  died  when  he  was  a 
youth  of  tifleen,  his  father,  Thomas  Bunyan,  the  old  tinker  of 
Elstow,  lived  on  till  1G70,  being  buried  according  to  the  parish 
register  on  the  7th  of  February  in  that  year.  It  would  appear, 
therefore,  that  he  died  when  his  son  was  in  gaol  for  the  last 
lime,  and  just  when  tlio  wonderful  dream  was  taking  shape.  The 
old  man  seems  ah\uys  to  have  kept  in  the  communion  of  the 
Church  of  England.  What  he  thouglit  of  his  son's  career  and 
convictions  in  later  years,  whether  he  was  proud  of  his  popu- 
larity and  influence  or  disapproved  of  his  perversely  resisting 
the  uulhoriticH  of  the  times,  nothing  remains  to  show.  Ilia 
will  has  been  preserved  in  the  iJistrict  lU'gistry,  and   ii    its 


302  JOHN  B  UNYAN.  [chap.  xiii. 

language  may  be  taken  as  the  expression  of  his  own  religious 
feeling  he  was  not  altogether  out  of  spiritual  sympathy  with 
this  son  who  went  his  diverse  way.  As  giving  us  some  items 
of  information  about  the  Bunyan  family  at  this  time,  the 
reader  may  like  to  see  this  will  for  himself. 

"  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen,  the  two  and  twentieth  day  of  Jany., 
1675  [1675-6],  according  to  the  computation  of  the  Church  of 
England,  I,  Thomas  Bunyan  of  Elnestow  in  the  county  of  Bedford, 
Braseyer,  being  of  perfit  memory  and  Remembrance,  praised  bee 
Grod  Doe  make  and  ordaine  this  my  Last  Will  and  Testament  in 
manner  and  forme  following,  viz. :  first,  I  bequeath  my  soul  into 
the  hands  of  Almighty  God  my  Maker,  hoping  that  throug  the 
meritorious  death  and  passion  of  Jesus  Christ  my  only  Saviour  and 
Redeemer  to  receive  pardon  for  my  sins.  And  as  for  my  body  to 
bee  buried  in  Christian  buriall  at  the  discretion  of  my  Executors 
hereinafter  nominated.  Imprimis  I  give  unto  my  Sonne  John 
Bunyan,  one  shilling.  And  unto  my  sonne  Thomas  I  give  one 
shilling.  And  unto  my  daughter  Mary  Bunyan  I  give  one  shilling. 
And  unto  my  daughter  Elizabeth  Bunyan  I  give  one  shilling.  All 
of  them  to  bee  paid  within  a  yeare  after  my  death.  And  all  the 
rest  of  my  goods  and  all  that  I  have  I  leave  with  Anne  my  wife  to 
doe  with  what  she  pleases  and  to  be  at  her  own  disposing."  *' 

This  will,  signed  with  a  reversed  g^  as  a  mark,  was  attested 
by  Robert  Rose,  Michael  Gilbe,  and  Samuel  Gale.  The 
bequests  to  his  children  are  not  to  be  supposed  to  mean  that 
Thomas  Bunyan  cut  off  his  sons  and  daughters  with  the  cus- 
tomary shilling  of  ironical  or  irate  testators.  The  smallness  of 
his  legacies  must  rather  be  taken  as  indicating  the  scantiness 
of  his  means.  The  returns  from  Bedfordshire  for  the  Hearth 
Tax  of  1673—4  have  been  preserved  in  the  Record  Office, 
giving  the  names  of  every  householder  in  the  county,  both 
those  who  paid  taxes  on  their  chimneys  and  those  who  were 
too  poor  to  pay.  Among  the  latter  we  find  Thomas  Bunyan, 
of  the  parish  of  Elstow,  who  was  exempted  by  legal  certificate,  f 
The  parish  register  informs  us  that  his  widow  Ann  Bunyan 
was  "buried  in  Woolen,  September  25th,  1680." 

Once   more,  and  finally,  released  from  prison,  John  Bunyan 


* 


Bedfordshire  Wills,  1675-6,  No.  74. 


t  Subsidies — Bedfordshire  :  Hearth  Tax,  25  Car.  II. — Elstow. 


I 


1G76.]  INTERVAL  BETWEEN  1G76— 1G82.  303 

was  again  at  work  among  the  Nonconformists  of  Bedfordshire, 
whose  numbers  seem  to  have  steadily  grown  in  spite  of  the 
measures  used  for  their  repression.  In  that  year,  1G7G,  Arch- 
bishop Sheldon  ordered  a  religious  census  to  be  taken  of  the 
province  of  Canterbury.  The  returns  furnished  by  his  own 
officials  have  been  preserved,  and  are  of  interest  as  furnisliing 
an  approximate  estimate  of  the  population  of  the  county  in 
that  year.  They  were  carefully  made,  parish  by  parish,  and 
were  brought  together  in  a  bound  volume,  formerly  in  the 
possession  of  the  Duke  of  Sussex  and  now  among  the  MSS.  of 
the  Salt  Museum  at  Stafford.  The  returns  give  the  number  of 
Conformists,  Nonconformists,  and  Papists  in  each  parish  above 
the  age  of  sixteen.  In  similar  returns  made  in  the  reign  of 
William  III.,  the  number  of  those  above  sixteen  is  doubled  to 
get  at  the  entire  population.  As  this  gives  an  estimate  of  five 
millions,  which  there  is  reason  to  believe  was  somewhere  near 
the  population  of  the  country  at  the  time,  we  may  assume  the 
principle  to  be  approximately  correct.  If  we  apply  it  to 
liedfordshire  in  1G7G,  we  find  that  the  entire  population  of  the 
county  in  that  year  was  50,7o2,  that  in  the  119  parishes  of  the 
six  deaneries  there  were  1,914  Nonconformists  above  sixteen 
years  of  age  and  40  I'apists,  and  therefore  a  total  Nonconformist 
population  of  between  3,000  and  4,000,  a  number  somewhat 
remarkable,  taking  into  account  the  sternly  coercive  measures 
brought  to  bear  upon  them  for  a  period  of  now  nearly  sixteen 
years.  In  the  town  of  Bedford  there  were  in  the  five  parishes 
121  Nonconformists  and  one  Papist  above  sixteen,  so  that  the 
thirty  of  1GG9  had  multiplied  fourfold  after  the  Declaration  of 
Indulgence,  and  the  number  under  Bunyan's  pastoral  care,  in- 
cluding those  from  the  villages,  must  have  been  considerable. 
In  tlie  whole  of  Lincoln  diocese  tlie  Nonconformists  were  1 
in  21  of  the  p<)j)ulation,  in  the  county  of  Bedford  1  in  12,  and 
in  the  town  of  Bedford  1  in  10,  a  ])roportion  which  is  somewhat 
HUj^gestive  us  to  Bunyan's  personal  influence. 

The  year  after  the  apiKjarancc  of  tlio  First  Part  of  the  "  Pil- 
grim's Progress"  wu.s  made  memorable  by  the  great  national 
Mcuro  of  the  Popish  plot  and  the  intense  excitement  of  a 
general  ehfction  aft<:r  the  dinsolution  of  a  I'arliamcnt  which 
had  sat  for  eighteen  years.      It  was  rumoured    that   the  Jesuits 


304  JOHN  BUNYJN.  [chap.  xiii. 

were  in  deadly  earnest  about  the  conversion  of  England  to 
the  Romish  faith,  that  the  King  was  to  be  assassinated,  the 
Protestants  in  London  massacred,  and  the  crown  oiJered  to 
that  resolute  Papist,  the  Duke  of  York.  The  nation  felt 
as  if  it  were  once  more  on  the  verge  of  civil  war ;  and  Daniel 
Defoe,  who  was  then  a  boy,  tells  us  how  men  polished  their 
blunderbusses  again  and  refurbished  their  military  gear  as 
in  the  days  of  strife  between  Roundhead  and  Royalist. 
To  the  same  purpose  Bunyan  himself  says  :  "  Our  days  in- 
deed had  been  days  of  trouble,  especially  since  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Popish  plot,  for  then  we  began  to  fear  cutting 
of  throats,  of  being  burned  in  our  beds,  and  of  seeing  our 
children  dashed  to  pieces  before  our  faces.  But  looking  about 
us,  we  found  we  had  a  gracious  king,  brave  parliaments,  a 
stout  city,  good  lord-mayors,  honest  sheriffs,  substantial  laws 
against  them,  and  these  we  made  the  object  of  our  hope,  quite 
forgetting  the  direction  in  this  exhortation — Let  Israel  hope 
in  the  Lord."*  In  the  midst  of  all  this  excitement  Parliament 
was  prorogued,  and  on  the  24th  of  January,  1678—9,  dissolved. 
It  will  always  be  memorable  for  its  persecuting  spirit  and  for 
its  venal  corruption.  With  open  effrontery.  Lord  Danby 
bought  the  votes  of  Members  of  Parliament,  increasing  the 
annual  grant  for  this  purpose  from  £12,000  a  year  to  £20,000. 
In  its  earliest  years  this  Second  Long  Parliament  had  been 
pitilessly  cruel ;   in  its  later  years  it  was  shamelessly  debased. 

Naturally  the  general  election  which  followed  was  attended 
with  considerable  excitement.  Electors  who  had  had  no  oppor- 
tunity of  recording  their  votes  for  nearly  twenty  years  rode  in 
to  the  polling  booths  by  thousands,  and  in  the  slow  process  of 
polling  in  those  days  could  find  no  accommodation  in  inns  or 
houses,  and  had  to  sleep  in  the  market-places,  lying  like  sheep 
round  the  market  crosses.  Almost  everywhere  the  country 
party,  as  it  was  called,  was  victorious,  and  the  court  party 
defeated.  Edmund  Yerney,  writing  to  Sir  R.  Yerney,  24th 
of  February,  1678-9,  says  :  "  I  hear  the  Bedfordshire  election 
cost  £6,000.  They  were  three  days  a-polling.  But  Lord 
Bruce  and  his  party  lost  it  by  five  hundred  votes,  whereat  the 

*  Bunyan's  Works,  i.,  585. 


1675.]  IXTERVAL  BETWEEy  lOTG— 1GS2.  305 

Earl  of  Ailesbury  his  father  was  extremely  anfjry."*  In  the 
county  Lord  Bruce  was  defeated  by  Lord  William  Russell  and 
Sir  J.  Napier  by  Sir  IT.  Monoux  ;  while  for  the  borough  Sir 
William  Beecher,  whom  we  met  on  the  bench  at  Banyan's 
trial,  was  supplanted  by  Sir  William  Franklyn,  along  with 
whom  William  Paulet  St.  John  was  returned  as  before. 

Puring  these  politically  stirring  times  Biinyan  went  on 
writing  his  books,  and  looking  out  upon  the  storm,  not  know- 
ing whether  it  would  blow  him  to  the  haven  of  settled  liberty 
or  once  more  on  to  the  rocks  of  prison  life.  Having  for  con- 
venience' sake  already  considered  together  the  two  parts  of  the 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  and  leaving  for  future  consideration  the 
"  Holy  War,"  we  may  now  briefly  glance  at  the  other  books 
which  belong  to  this  period  of  our  Author's  life. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  the  little  work  entitled 
"  Instruction  for  tlio  Tgnorant,"t  dated  1G7'3,  was  written  in 
prison.  It  was  publislicd  by  Bunyan's  old  friend  Francis 
Smith,  the  copy  of  the  first  edition  in  the  Bodleian  being  the 
only  one  known  to  be  in  existence.  The  book  was  sent  forth, 
the  writer  says,  as  "  a  salve  to  cure  that  great  want  of  know- 
ledge which  so  much  reigns  both  in  young  and  old."  In  the 
form  of  question  and  answer  it  deals  with  the  elementary 
truths  relating  to  the  nature  of  God,  the  character  and  confes- 
pion  of  sin,  faith  in  Christ,  prayer  and  self-denial,  but  has  no 
special  value  in  any  way.  The  same  year  also  there  appeared 
the  book  entitled  "  Saved  by  Grace,"J  which  Charles  Doe 
])laccH  between  the  catechism  just  referred  to  and  the  discourse 
on  "  The  Strait  Gate."  In  tliis  work  on  Salvation  by  Grace 
there  are  one  or  two  foregleams  of  the  greater  book  by  which 
it  was  immediately  followed.  We  are  reminded  of  the  descriji- 
tion  of  the  raptures  of  the  blessed  given  by  Christian  to  Pliable 
as  wo  read  in  the  section  on  conipleted  salvation  this  : — 


•    MSS.  of  Sir  Harry   Vrrnnj,  Hart.,  107S  9;    F<b.  24. 

t  Imtructton  for  the  Ignorant  :  or  ri  Sulvo  to  (-'iiro  tlint  RToat  want  of  know- 
lodRo  whirh  io  much  r*'i(rn«  io  Old  nnd  YounR.  I^ondon  :  Franciii  Smith,  1075. 
I'remieri  I'r\neipe*  dt  Chrtitiamimi  expliqii^n  dan»  un  DiiilogiioKinipIo  ot  Fuinilior, 
par  Joan  Hunynn.     I'liria,  1K27. 

X  Saved  by  Gratt :  or  a  Diwrounw  of  the  (iraco  of  God.  No  copy  of  tho  Fir»t 
tUlittuD  known  to  exUl.     Cadwidtjfatlh  Iruy  ra4,  ko.     Cuuniurfon,  lh'21.     IJinu. 

X 


y06  JOHN  BUN Y AN.  [chap.  xiii. 

"  Tlie  soul  will  be  filled  in  all  the  faoulties  of  it  with,  as  much 
bliss  and  glory  as  ever  it  can  hold.  We  shall  have  perfect  and 
everlasting  vision  of  God ;  our  will  and  affections  shall  be  ever  in 
burning  flame  of  love  ;  our  conscience  have  that  peace  and  joy  that 
neither  tongue  nor  pen  of  men  or  angels  can  express,  and  our  memory 
be  enlarged  to  the  everlasting  ravishment  of  our  hearts.  The  body 
too  shall  be  glorified  and  between  soul  and  body  there  shall  be  per- 
fect harmony  without  jarring.  In  this  world  the  body  oft  hangs 
this  way  and  the  soul  the  quite  contrary,  but  then  they  shall  never 
jar  more  ;  the  glory  of  the  body  shall  so  suit  with  the  glory  of  the 
soul  and  both  so  perfectly  suit  with  the  heavenly  state  that  it  passeth 
words  and  thoughts.  Shall  I  speak  of  the  place  ?  It  is  a  city,  a 
kingdom,  paradise,  everlasting  habitations.  Shall  I  speak  of  their 
company  ?  They  stand  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb, 
they  are  with  an  innumerable  company  of  angels,  with  patriarchs 
and  prophets.  Shall  I  speak  of  their  heavenly  raiment  ?  They  are 
clothed  with  the  garment  of  salvation,  they  walk  in  white,  they  are 
crowned  with  righteousness.  0  sinner,  what  sayest  thou  ?  How 
dost  thou  like  being  saved  ?  Doth  not  thy  mouth  water  ?  Doth 
not  thy  heart  twitter  at  being  saved  ?" 

Here  also  is  a  variation  of  the  well-known  simile  of  the  oil 
and  the  water  cast  on  that  fire  seen  in  the  House  of  Inter- 
preter. 

''0  what  an  enemy  is  man  to  his  own  soul!  I  am  persuaded 
that  God  hath  visited  some  of  you  often  with  his  word,  even  twice 
and  thrice  and  you  have  thrown  water  as  fast  as  He  hath  by  the 
word  cast  fire  upon  your  conscience." 

We  seem  to  see  the  tears  welling  up  to  his  eyes  and  to  hear 
his  voice,  tremulous  with  emotion,  as  we  read  this  characteristic 
passage  about  the  grace  of  Christ  to  sinful  man : 

"Thou  Son  of  the  Blessed,  what  grace  was  manifest  in  thy  con- 
descension !  Grace  brought  thee  down  from  heaven,  grace  stripped 
thee  of  thy  glory,  grace  made  thee  poor  and  despicable,  grace  made 
thee  bear  such  burdens  of  sin,  such  burdens  of  sorrow,  such  burdens 
of  God's  curse  as  are  unspeakable.  0  Son  of  God !  grace  was  in 
all  thy  tears,  grace  came  bubbling  out  of  thy  side  with  thy  blood, 
grace  came  forth  with  every  word  of  thy  sweet  mouth.  Grace  came 
out  where  the  whip  smote  thee,  where  the  thorns  pricked  thee,  where 
the  nails  and  spear  pierced  thee.     0  blessed  Son  of  God  !     Here  is 


1676.]  IXTERVAL  BETfTEEN  1676—1682.  307 

g^ace  indeed !  Unsearchnbie  riches  of  grace  !  Unthought-of  riches 
of  grace !  Grace  to  make  angels  vronder,  grace  to  make  sinners 
happy,  grace  to  astonisli  devils.  And  what  will  become  of  thom 
that  trample  under  foot  this  Son  of  God  ?  " 

This  book  on  Salvation  by  Grace,  having  gone  from  hisliand  ho 
entered  upon  that  other  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made,  the  book  which  was  probably  the  expansion  of  a  sermon 
preached  during  his  three  years  of  liberty,  and  entitled  "  The 
Strait  Gate,"  *  or  the  Great  Difficulty  of  going  to  heaven.  It 
is  based  on  the  well-known  passage  Luke  xiii.  24.  The  stress 
of  the  book  is  against  an  unreal  profession  of  Christian  life, 
against  the  "  many  that  make  Christ's  word  and  his  name,  and 
his  ways,  a  stalking-horse  to  their  own  worldly  advantage." 
In  the  searching  hour  of  final  judgment  those  things  that  these 
mere  professors  but  not  possessors  "count  sound  and  good  will 
then  shake  like  a  quagmire,  even  all  their  naked  knowledge, 
their  feigned  faith,  pretended  love,  glorious  shows  of  gravity 
in  the  face,  their  holiday  words  and  specious  carriages,  will 
stand  them  in  little  stead.  I  call  them  holiday  ones,  for  I  per- 
ceive that  some  professors  do  with  religion  just  as  people  do 
with  their  best  apparel — hang  it  against  the  wall  all  the  week 
and  put  it  on  on  Sundays.  For  as  some  scarce  ever  put  on  a 
suit  but  when  they  go  to  a  fair  or  a  market,  so  little  house 
religion  will  do  with  some;  they  save  religion  till  they  go  to  a 
meeting,  or  till  they  meet  with  a  godly  chapman.  O  poor 
religion  !  O  poor  professor  !  What  wilt  thou  do  at  this  day, 
the  day  of  thy  trial  and  judgment?  Cover  thyself  tlmu  canst 
not,  go  for  a  Christian  thou  canst  not,  stand  against  the  Judge 
thou  canst  not." 

In  the  application  of  his  theme  Kunyan  .'Speaks  to  those  who 
are,  a.s  he  says,  upon  the  potter's  wheel,  in  whom  great  thoughts 
and  anxious  resolves  are  stirring,  but  who  are  too  apt  to  elicck 
a  convincing  conscience.  "Such  poor  sinners  are  much  like 
to  a  wanton  boy  at  the  maid's  elbow,  to  blow  out  her  candle 
a»  fast   as  she  lights   it  at   the  fire.     Convinced   sinner,   God 

•  //,/•  strait  Gate  :  or  tho  CirvtiX  Difficulty  of  f^riintr  to  lliiivm.  Limdim  : 
Frunci*  Hmilh,  (.'onihill,  1070.  (,"«). icii  of  thi?  FirMt  K<litii)ii  in  llmilciiiii  iiiul 
Camb.  Univ.  Lib.  J)*  Knt/e  J'oorit,  obtu  hot  ^ruotu  .  .  .  Wcrk  van  Um  lli-mul 
in  te  gaan.     AmstenUm,  1727. 

X  2 


308  JOBN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiii. 

Ughteth  thy  candle  and  thou  puttest  it  out.  God  lights 
it  again  and  again  thou  puttest  it  out.  Take  heed  lest 
like  the  Egyptians  you  dwell  all  your  days  in  darkness  and 
never  see  light  more.  Give  glory  to  God,  and  if  he  awakens 
thy  conscience  quench  not  thy  convictions."  Having  thus  for 
a  moment  turned  aside  he  returns  once  more  to  the  unreal 
professors  in  the  Church  and  asks  leave  to  set  his  trumpet  to 
their  ears  again.  He  sets  them  in  classes  and  has  a  word  for 
each — for  the  talkative  whose  religion  lies  only  in  his  tongue ; 
for  the  covetous  professor  who  makes  a  gain  of  religion  and 
uses  it  to  bring  grist  to  his  mill ;  for  the  wanton  professor,  with 
his  feastings  and  eating  without  fear,  not  for  health  but  for 
gluttony  ;  for  the  formalist  who  has  lost  all  of  religion  but  the 
shell ;  for  the  temporising  latitudinaiuan  whose  religion  is  like 
the  times,  turning  this  way  and  that  way  like  the  cock  on  the 
steeple  ;  and  for  that  professor  who  is  for  God  and  for  Baal  too, 
can  be  anything  for  any  company,  can  throw  stones  with  both 
hands,  alter  his  religion  as  fast  as  his  company ;  can  live  in 
water  as  out  of  water,  with  Christians  and  away  from  them. 
Nothing  that  is  disorderly  comes  amiss  to  this  man.  He  will 
hold  with  the  hare  and  hold  with  the  hounds,  carry  fire  in  one 
hand  and  water  in  the  other,  is  a  very  anything. 

After  these  three  books  which  belong  to  1675-6  came,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  the  First  Part  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress." 
The  same  year  this  was  published,  in  addition  to  the  sending 
forth  a  second  edition,  in  which  Mr.  Worldly  Wiseman  first 
appears,  Bunyan  gave  to  the  world  his  "  Come  and  Welcome 
to  Jesus  Christ,"  which  Offer  places  in  1681,  but  which,  as  we 
now  know,  first  saw  the  light  in  1678.*  It  was  the  enlarge- 
ment of  a  sermon  on  John  vi.  37,  the  words  of  which — Him 
that  Cometh  to  me  I  will  in  nowise  cast  out  —  had  been  like 
heaven's  balm  to  his  own  heart-wounds  in  his  days  of  spiritual 
struggle.  Salvation,  he  tells  us,  has  its  roots  in  fatherly  love : 
"  I  myself  have  often  found  that  when  I  can  say  but  this  word 
Father,  it  doth  me  more  good  than  when  I  call  Him  by  any 

*  Come  a)id  Welcome  to  Jesus  Christ.  London  :  B.  Harris,  1678.  Komst  en 
Welkomst  tot  Jesus  Christus.  Amsterdam :  J.  Boekholt,  1689.  Die  Zarteste 
Liebe  Christi  alien  SUndern  gezeiget,  durst  J.  Bunian.  Hamburg :  Gottfried 
Liebemictnel,  1698.  Tyred  a  groesaw  at  Jesu  Crist.  Caerfyrddin  :  1770.  Thig  agus 
se  do  bheatha  Chum  losa  Criosd.  Kdinburgh  :  18,39.  Jesu,  Hjerte  aahnetjor  Syndere 
(Norsk).     Horten:    1882.     After  an  Edition  of  1772. 


I 


1678.]  IXTERVAL  BETWEEN  1G76— 1G«2.  309 

other  Scripture  name."  The  Father  is  the  giver  of  those  who 
come,  and  as  to  what  is  the  true  coming,  the  tour  lepers  in  the 
Book  of  Kinffs  were  a  famous  sembhmce  The  famine  was 
sore  in  the  knd,  these  lepers  were  thrust  without  the  city,  and 
as  they  sat  in  the  gate,  hunger  was,  as  I  may  say,  making  his 
last  meal  of  them ;  and  being  therefore  half  dead  already, 
what  do  they  think  of  doing?  Why,  first  they  display  the 
dismal  colours  of  death  before  each  other's  faces  and  then 
resolve  to  go  into  the  city  to  the  Syrians.  Die  they  may  if 
they  go  in,  but  die  they  must  if  they  stop  where  they  are. 
Here  now  was  necessity  at  work,  and  this  necessity  drove  them 
to  go  thither  for  life,  whither  else  they  would  never  have  gone 
for  it.  Thus  it  is  with  them  that  in  truth  come  to  Jesus 
Christ.  Men  should  warm  their  hearts  by  the  sweet  promise 
of  Christ's  acceptance.  Discouraging  thoughts  are  like  unto 
cold  weather,  they  benumb  the  senses  and  make  us  go  ungainly 
about  our  business ;  but  the  sweet  and  warm  gleads  of  promise 
are  like  the  comfortable  beams  of  the  sun  which  liven  and 
refresh.  You  see  how  little  the  bee  and  fly  do  play  in  the  air 
in  winter ;  why  the  cold  hinders  them  from  doing  it ;  but  when 
the  wind  and  sun  is  warm,  who  so  busy  as  they?  lie  that 
comes  to  Christ  cannot,  it  is  true,  always  get  on  as  fast  as  he  would. 
Poor  coming  soul,  thou  art  like  the  man  that  would  ride  full 
gallop  whose  horse  will  hardly  trot.  Now  the  desire  of  his 
mind  is  not  to  be  judged  of  by  the  slow  pace  of  the  dull  jade 
he  rides  on,  but  by  the  hitching  and  kicking  and  spurring  as 
he  sits  on  his  back.  Tliy  flesh  is  like  this  dull  jade,  it  will  not 
gallop  after  Christ,  it  will  be  backward  though  thy  soul  and 
heaven  lie  at  stake. 

The  promise  is  largo,  Christ  will  in  nowise  cast  out.  Let 
the  best  master  of  arts  on  earth  sliow  me  if  he  can  any  con- 
dition in  this  te.xt  tliat  depends  upon  any  (lualitication  in  us. 
They  HJiall  come  ?  Shall  they  come  ?  Yes,  liiey  shall  come. 
liut  how  if  tlury  want  those  tilings,  those  graces,  power  ami 
heart  without  wliich  they  cannot  come?  Why,  >ihnll  come 
unswerelh  all  this  and  all  things  else.  And  liim  (hat  cometh 
shall  in  nowise  bo  oust  out.  Let  liim  bo  as  red  as  blood,  lot 
him  bo  as  red  us  crimson.  Sonui  men  are  blood-red  sinners, 
crimson  siiiners,  siuuers  of  a   douldo  dye,  dipped  and  (lipi)od 


310  JOHN  BUN Y AN.  [chap.  xm. 

again  before  they  come  to  Jesus  Christ.  Art  thou  that  readest 
these  lines  such  an  one  ?  Speak  out  man  !  Art  thou  such  an 
one  ?  Fear  not !  trouble  not  thyself,  coming  sinner.  If  thou 
seest  thy  lost  condition,  if  thou  seest  thy  need  of  the  spotless 
righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ,  if  thou  art  willing  to  be  found 
in  Him,  take  up  thy  cross  and  follow,  then  pray  for  a  fair  wind 
and  good  weather  and  come  away.  Stick  no  longer  in  a  muse 
and  doubt  about  things,  but  come  away  to  Jesus  Christ.  God 
hath  strewed  all  the  way  from  the  gate  of  hell,  where  thou 
wast,  to  the  gate  of  heaven,  whither  thou  art  going,  with  flowers 
out  of  his  own  garden.  Behold  how  the  promises,  invitations, 
calls,  and  encouragements  like  lilies  lie  round  about  thee  I 
Take  heed  that  thou  dost  not  tread  them  under  thy  foot,  sinner. 
With  promises,  did  I  say  ?  Yea  he  hath  mixed  all  those  with 
his  own  name,  his  Son's  name,  also  with  the  name  of  mercy, 
goodness,  compassion,  love,  pity,  grace,  forgiveness,  pardon, 
and  what  not,  that  may  encourage  thy  coming,  sinner. 

This  book,  "  Come  and  Welcome,"  with  its  musical  title  and 
soul-moving  pleas,  was  published  for  Bunyan  by  "  B.  Harris, 
at  Stationers  Arms  in  Swithings  Rents  in  Cornhil,  1678."  His 
next  book,  like  his  "  Pilgrim,"  came  out  under  the  auspices  of 
Nathaniel  Ponder.  It  was  entitled  "A  Treatise  of  the  Fear 
of  God,"  and  was  published  in  1679.*  It  has  for  a  frontispiece 
a  woodcut  reproduction  of  Robert  White's  engraved  sleeping 
portrait  of  Bunyan,  prefixed  to  the  third  edition  of  the 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  and  at  the  end  there  is  the  following 
note  : — *'  Errata's.  Reader,  thou  art  desired  to  correct  these 
errata's  (with  some  others)  which  were  occasioned  by  the 
Printer,  by  reason  of  the  absence  of  the  Author."  The  treatise 
is  founded  on  the  words,  "Blessed  is  every  one  that  feareth  the 
Lord."  He  will  not,  he  says,  trouble  his  reader  with  a  long 
preamble  or  "  forespeech  "  to  the  matter,  nor  will  he  so  much 
as  meddle  with  the  context,  but  immediately  fall  upon  the 
words  themselves,  which  are  weighty  enough.  He  shows  the 
difference  between  a  noble  fear  and  a  fear  that  is  ignoble.     The 

*  A  Treatise  of  the  Fear  of  God.  By  John  Bunyan.  London  :  Printed  for  N. 
Ponder.  1679.  Verhandelinge  van  de  Waare  Vreese  Gods  :  Aantoon-Ende  Waar 
in  die  bestaat.  In't  Engels  beschreven  door  Mr.  Johannes  Bunjan.  Dordrecht : 
Johannes  f  Hooft.     17'27. 


1679.]  INTERVAL  BETWEEN  1070—1682.  311 

noble  fear  has  its  roots  in  reverence  of  that  which  is  hi^h  and 
niajesticul.  Some  men  have  it  not.  Even  when  they  seem  to 
come  for  the  worship  of  God  they  come  only  to  sleep  tliere,  or 
they  come  thither  to  meet  with  their  chapmen  or  to  <>;et  into 
the  wicked  fellowship  of  their  vain  companions.  There  is  ai\ 
ignoble,  ungodly  fear,  which  driveth  men  away  from  God, 
which  withers  their  power  of  serving  him  as  it  did  the  man 
with  the  one  talent.  For  what  does  he?  Whv,  he  takes  his 
talent — the  gift  that  he  was  to  lay  out  for  his  master's  profit — 
and  burying  it,  lies  in  a  lazy  manner  at  to-elbow  all  his  days, 
not  out  of,  but  in,  his  lord's  vineyard.  It  is  this  uiifilial  fear 
which  makes  men  superstitious  before  God.  It  was  this  that  put 
the  Pliarisees  upon  inventing  so  many  traditions,  as  tlie  washing 
of  cups,  and  beds,  and  tables,  and  basins,  with  abundance  of  such 
other  like  gear.  And  how  it  has  racked  and  tortured  the  Papists 
for  hundreds  of  years  together  !  For  what  but  this  ungodly  fear 
of  God  is  the  cause  of  their  penances,  as  creeping  to  the  cross, 
going  barefoot  on  pilgrimage,  whipping  themselves,  wearing 
of  sackcloth,  saying  so  many  Paternosters  and  Ave-raarias, 
making  so  many  confessions  to  the  priest,  and  giving  so  much 
money  for  pardons  r*  The  true,  the  noble  fear  is  of  (juite 
other  sort ;  it  is  called  a  grace,  that  is  a  sweet  and  blessed 
work  of  the  Spirit  of  Grace.  It  is  called  God's  treasure,  for 
it  is  one  of  his  choice  jewels,  one  of  the  rarities  of  heaven.  I'uor 
vagrants  when  they  come  straggling  to  a  lord's  house  may 
perhaps  obtain  some  scraps  and  fragments;  they  may  also 
obtain  old  shoes  and  some  sorry  cast-olf  rags,  but  they  get  not 
any  of  his  jewels,  they  may  not  touch  his  clioicest  treasure, 
that  is  kept  for  the  children  and  those  that  shall  bo  his  lieirH. 
We  may  say  the  same  also  of  this  blessed  grace  of  fear,  which 
is  called  here  God's  treasure. 

lie  not  high-minded,  tlu'U,  l)ut  h-ar.  Fear,  and  that  will 
make  you  little  in  your  own  eyes,  keep  you  humble,  put  you 
up<jn  crying  to  God  for  protection,  and  upon  lying  at  his  foot 
for  mercy  ;  that  will  also  make  you  have  low  thoughts  of  your 
own  parts,  of  your  own  doings,  and  cause  you  to  prefer  your 
brollnT  before  yourself,  and  ho  you  will  walk  in  humiliation 
and  be  continually  under  the  t^-uchingH  of  (iod  und  under  Iuh 
conduct  iu  your  way.     The  lowly  God    teaches,  th«>  nicck  will 


312  JOHN  BUN Y AN.  [chap.  xiii. 

lie  guide  in  judgment.     To  abound  in  this  fear  is  a  sign  of  a 
very  princely  spirit,  and  the  reason  is,  when  I  greatly  fear  my 
God  I  am  above  the  fear  of  all  others.     Keep  then  this  grace 
of  fear,  and  if  you  would,  take  heed  of  a  hard  heart ;  take  heed 
of  the  beginnings  of  sin.  There  is  more  in  a  little  sin  to  harden 
than  in  a  great  deal  of  grace  to  soften.     Take  heed  also  of  a 
prayerless  heart.     The  man  that  prays  but  little,  fears  God  but 
little.      Prayer  is  as  the  pitcher  that  fetcheth  water  from  the 
brook  therewith  to  water  the  herbs  ;  break  the  pitcher  and  it 
will  fetch  no  water,  and  for  want  of  water  the  garden  withers. 
It  may  vary  the  line  of  thought  somewhat  if  we  now  turn 
from  Bunyan  as  an  author  to  Bunyan  as  a  pastor  during  the 
years  with  which  we  are  at  present  concerned,  that  is,  from 
1676  to  1682.     The  only  glimpses  we  get  of  him  during  this 
time  are  from  the  Church  Records,  and  these  were  but  scantily 
kept.    Several  of  the  entries  are  in  Bunyan's  own  handwriting, 
the  rest  variously  written.     It  will  be  seen  that  he  was  not 
without  his  heart-sorrows  in  watching  over  his  flock,      Dis- 
reo-ardina:  the  mere  routine  entries  relating  to  the  admission  of 
members,  we  come  upon  such  minutes  as  these : — 

"  At  a  church  meeting  at  Gamlingay  the  14th  of  the  11th  month, 
1676  (14th  Feb.,  1677),  Brother  Oliver  Thodye  made  acknowledg- 
ment of  summe  miscarages  the  Church  had  charged  him  with  as 
namely,  breakeing  the  Saboth  and  brawling  with  neighbours. 

"The  7th  of  the  12th  month,  1676  [7th  March,  1677].  The 
Church  of  Christ  in  and  about  Bedford  to  the  Church  of  Chi'ist  in 
and  about  Braintree,  sendeth  greeting.  Holy  and  beloved,  we  fellow 
heires  with  you  of  the  grace  of  life  having  considered  your  request 
concerneing  our  honnered  and  beloved  brother  Samuel  Hensman 
....  doe  as  before  God  and  the  Elect  Angels  grant  and  give  up  to 
you  our  elect  brother  to  be  receaued  by  you  in  the  Lord,  and  to  be 
nourished  in  the  church  at  Braintree  with  you  as  one  that  is  dear  to 
the  Father  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  this  we  the  wiUinger 
doe  because  as  we  are  informed  conserneing  you  beloved,  you  are 
not  ridged  in  your  principles,  but  are  for  communyon  with  saints 
as  saints  ;  and  have  been  taught  by  the  word  to  receaue  the  brother- 
hood because  they  are  beloued  and  receaued  of  the  Father  and  the 
Sonne  to  whose  grace  we  commend  you  with  the  brother  of  late  a 
member  with  us ;  but  now  one  of  you.  Grace  be  with  you  aU. 
John  Bunyan,  Sam.  ffenn,  &c. 


1G77-79.]  lyTFR FA L  BFTJFFFy  \676—\G82.  313 

"  The  29th  of  the  1st  montli,  1677  [April  29th].  (The  dismission 
to  the  cliurch  at  Hitchin  of  '  our  boluved  Bro.  John  "Willson  '  to  bo 
their  minister)  ....  God  haveing  bowed  the  heart  of  the  Church 
to  consent  to  what  you  have  both  longed  and  as  we  trust  much 
prayed  for,  [they  have]  granted  and  by  these  lines  doe  grant  and 
give  up  our  beloued  Brother  to  fellowshipe  with  you  for  your 
mutuall  edification  and  ioy  of  faith.  We  need  not  as  some  others 
to  commend  him  to  you,  God  haueing  before  prevented  that  by 
commending  him  to  you  himselfe.  Now  God  and  our  Father  and 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  Shepe  make  this 
both  our  and  your  beloued  brother  a  double  blessing  imto  you  both 
in  his  ministery  to  and  membershipe  among  you,  and  as  a  watchman 
ouer  you,  if  God  and  the  Church  with  5'ou  shall  call  him  thcrto. 
Amen.  John  Bunyan,  Sam.  Ifenn,  Thomas  AVoodward,  Juhu 
Bardulph,  &c. 

"  1677.  At  a  meeting  of  the  church  in  Gamlingay  the  Congre<;a- 
tion  withdrew  Communyan  from  Edward  Dent  of  Gamlingay,  the 
matter  of  fact  charged  upon  him  was  for  being  negligent  and  un- 
faithfull  as  to  the  management  of  his  sisters  Implo}Tuent  which  he 
was  intrusted  with ;  and  alsoe  for  contracting  many  debts  which  he 
nether  was  able  to  pay,  nether  did  he  so  honestlye  and  Christianly 
take  care  to  pay  his  creditors  in  due  time  as  he  oght,  though  ho 
had  bone  often  exhorted  to  it  and  admonished  before  by  his 
brethi-en." 

The  following  is  in  Bunyan's  handwriting: — 

"  1678.  At  a  meeting  holden  at  Bedford  the  21th  of  July,  our 
sifiter  Mary  ffosket  (after  private  admonition  given  her  before)  was 
publikly  admoni-slied  for  receiveing  and  privatly  whispering  of  an 
horrid  scandal  (without  fuller  of  truth),  against  our  lirutlier  lloiiy- 
love  and  for  other  evila  by  her  committed,  all  of  which  she  staudi-th 
convicted  of  and  so  must  doe  tiU  her  repentance  for  the  «umo 
(according  to  the  word)  is  manifest  unto  the  congregation." 

The  next  entries  are  by  another  hand  : — 

"Cottenend  the  12  month,  1678  [March,  1679],  our  brother 
John  Stanton  was  admoni.sln-d  by  tlio  Church  of  his  uvill  in  ahuseing 
hi.s  wife  and  bcat<'iiig  hir  ofltMi  for  very  light  materH.  11»'(»  proiiiibcd 
u«  reformation  and  Boomed  Hory  for  hin  fault. 

"  At  a  Generall  Church  Mooting  ut  Cottonend  tho  I.Oth  S«<pt(»mbor, 
167'J,  it  waH  taken  notino  of  that  the  church  was  much  decayed  in 
hir  faith  and  louo  and  alUoo  that  tho  memberd  of  tho  congregation 


314  JORN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiii. 

while  manie  tarried  not  ther  relation  to  the  congregation  were  too 
much  neglected,  it  was  proposed  to  the  Church  that  care  might  be 
taken  to  consider  of  wayes  and  meanes  how  we  might  Joyntly 
reforme  and  performe  our  dutyes  one  unto  another  According  to 
what  our  relation  in  the  fellowship  of  the  gospel  calls  for. 

"  At  a  Generall  Church  Meeting  at  Cottenend,  the  12  day  of 
November,  1679,  the  church  did  sollemnely  giue  them  selves  up  to 
the  lord  and  one  unto  another,  and  did  promise  in  the  strength  of 
Crist  to  walke  more  in  loue  one  with  another,  and  to  performe  the 
dutyes  of  ther  relation  more  carfully  then  formerlie  they  had  done. 

"At  a  Gennerall  Church  meteing  at  Cottenend  the  2  day  of 
November,  1680,  John  Wildman  did  at  that  church  meteing  manage 
a  charge  against  the  congregation  which  he  had  drawne  up,  most  of 
it  in  wrighting,  and  sent  to  us  simime  time  before,  in  the  manage- 
ing  of  which  charge  he  was  found  extriordinary  guilty  of  a  kind  of 
railery  and  very  great  passion  very  much  condemned  by  the  whole 
congregation.  Alsoe  he  was  found  guilty  of  slandering  the  congre- 
gation, in  perticular  our  beloued  and  hounered  brother  Bunyan,  in 
what  he  had  spoken  to  Mr.  Gibs. 

"Alsoe  he  did  desperately  charge  our  brother  and  pastor,  John 
Bunyan,  with  calling  the  sisters  to  know  ther  Husbands  estates,  in 
order  to  put  a  levy  opon  them  wher  In  he  was  proued  before  the 
whole  congregation  an  abominable  Iyer  and  slanderer  of  our  beloved 
brother  Bunyan  ;  ffor  those  causes  with  others  the  congregation  did 
at  that  meeteing  in  Christ  name  with  draw  church  comunyan  from 
him  with  a  joynt  consent,  not  one  so  much  as  makeing  the  least 
sticke  at  it.  And  it  was  then  agreed  opon  that  if  the  congregation 
did  not  perseaue  repentance  in  him  at  the  next  church  meeting  he 
should  be  cast  out  of  the  church." 

The  foUowiDg  are  all  in  Bunyan's  handwriting  : — 

"1681.  A  letter  sent  by  the  elders  to  sister  Hauthorn  by  way  of 
reproofe  for  her  unseemly  language  against  Brother  Scot  and  the 
whole  church. 

"  Sister  Hauthorn — It  was  not  a  little  surprizing  to  us  to  behold 
in  what  spirit  you  acted,  and  with  what  taunts  and  reflections  you 
let  out  your  anger  when  you  was  with  us  at  Bedford,  not  only 
against  our  beloued  Brother  Scot,  but  against  the  church  in  general 
and  against  the  elders  in  perticuler,  of  which  a  perticuler  account 
may  be  given  you  when  we  shall  next  speak  with  you  when  and 
where  we  shall  expect  satisfaction  by  the  proof  of  your  repentance 
towards  God  and  your  unfeigned  acknowledgement  of  your  abusinge 


16S1.]  IXTEPiTAL  r>ETWFi:X  \iu(\—U^2.  315 

of  your  Brethren.     Jo.  Bunyan,  Sam.  ffenn.     Oif  which  miscariaj^ 
she  soon  made  humble  acknowledgement  to  satisfaction. 

"  1681.  On  the  tenth  day  of  ^November  our  aged  and  mucli 
honnered  Brother  John  Sewster  departed  this  life;  on  the  twelfth  day 
of  the  same  our  honnoured  Brother  Samuel  ifenu,  one  of  the  elders 
of  this  congregation,  departed  this  life. 

' '  Appointed  that  on  the  22  of  this  month  the  church  doe  meet 
together  to  humble  them-selves  before  God  for  the  sin  that  hath 
provoked  God  to  lay  this  heavie  hand  upon  us.  Also  on  the  24 
day  of  the  same  month  we  had  a  meeting  at  Gamblingay  upon  the 
same  account. 

"At  which  meetings  we  also  concluded  that  upon  the  12  of 
December  next  the  brethren  com  together  to  pray  to  God  and  to 
consider  how  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  church  for  her  further 
edification.  The  which  was  also  don,  for  then  at  Cottenend  was 
these  things  concluded : 

"  1.  That  the  several  meetings  that  are  upheld  by  the  congrega- 
tion to  witt ;  Bedford,  Kemston,  Maiden,  Gotten  End,  Edworth,  and 
Gamblingay  be  better  sujiplied. 

"2.  That  there  be  another  Deacon  chose  for  the  help  uf  uur 
brother  John  ifenn,  and  our  brother  John  Croker. 

"  3.  That  the  work  of  ruleing  Elders  be  considered  of  and  tlieir 
qualifications  in  order  to  the  choyce  and  apointment  of  som  to  that 
work  in  this  congregation. 

"4.  That  the  congregation  doth  make  enquiries  after  those  gifts 
that  may  be  of  service  in  the  church,  and  that  a  way  bo  found  out 
for  there  exercise  and  increas  if  God  will. 

"  5.  That  the  first  in  every  month  be  kept  in  prayr  for  to  bog 
God's  blessing  upon  the  preaching  (jf  the  word,  Ifor  the  conversion 
of  our  children  and  for  the  morcio  and  blessing  of  God  upon  the 
king  and  governors. 

"6.  That  the  preachers  in  the  congregation  do  agree  to  meet 
together  once  in  si.x  weeks  to  conferr  and  to  pray  to  God  for  a 
blessing  upon  their  ministry. 

"  The  Ciiurch  of  Christ  in  and  about  Bedford  to  tho  Chunh  of 
Clirist  walking  with  our  beloved  Brother  Cockain  in  London,* 
wishetli  abundance  of  grace  by  Jesus  Christ.  Beloved  Brc'threu,  wo 
commend  unto  you  our  Brother  Williatn  Breeden,  who  is  ono  of  us, 
but  by  reason  that  his  place  of  hahitatioii  is  with  you  in  London, 
and  so  reunite  from  us  ;  and  beciius  ho  desiroth  that  his  dislani'o 
from  ua  might  not  bo  u  bar  as  to  his  Christian  communion  ;  and 

*  Tho  church  in  ItodCroM  Street,  removed  Uj  I  loir  Court  in  1GU2.  Tht  Utoty 
of  Uare  Court,  by  J.  15.  Munih.      1871. 


316  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiir. 

also  becaus  lie  desireth  to  be  helped  forward  in  bis  Christian  course 
by  haveing  admittance  by  you  into  all  Christ's  ordinances ;  there- 
fore we  pray  you  in  the  bowels  of  Christ  to  receive  him,  and  to  be 
a  nurs  to  him  in  the  lord.  John  Bunyan,  John  Ifenn,  Anthony 
Harrington,  &c. 

''  Several  meetings  for  prayer  and  breaking  of  bread." 

This  brings  us  to  the  close  of  1682.  There  is  one  more 
entry  in  Bunyan's  handwriting,  and  as  it  is  the  last  made  by 
him  in  the  church  book,  though  he  remained  pastor  five  years 
longer,  we  may  give  it  here. 

"1683.  A  church  meeting  at  Cotten-end  the  20  of  April  for 
breaking  of  bread  where  there  was  also  a  frothy  letter  of  John 
Wildman's  presented  to  the  congregation,  wherein  he  counteth  our 
dealing  with  him  for  his  correction  and  amendment  scuffling  and 
fooling,  and  so  desires  a  corispondence.  In  answer  to  which  was 
sent  him  this  following  admonition  from  the  same  meeting ;  ffriend 
Wildman,  your  letter  has  bin  plainly  read  before  us,  and  since  you 
have  bin  withdrawn  fifrom  by  the  church  ffor  lying,  railing  and 
scandalizing  of  the  church  in  generall,  and  som  of  the  brethren  in 
perticuler  :  It  is  expected  : 

"1.  That  there  be  the  signesof  true  repentance  found  in  you  for 
the  same. 

"2.  And  also  that  you  bring  from  the  hands  of  those  in  the 
countrey  before  whom  you  have  abused  us  som  signe  of  their  satis- 
faction concerning  your  repentance  before  we  can  admitt  you  againe 
into  our  communion.  Written  for  you  and  sent  you  by  order  of  the 
congregation — Wittnes,  John  Bunyan,  &c." 

From  John  "Wildman  to  the  "  Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  Bad- 
man"*  is  only  a  step.  This  book  of  Bunyan's  was  published 
through  Nathaniel  Ponder  in  1680,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
meant  to  be  the  companion  picture  to  his  "  Pilgrim."  It  was 
thrown  into  dialogue  form  after  the  manner  of  Arthur  Dent's 
"  Plain  Man's  Pathway  to  Heaven,"  one  of  the  two  books  Bun- 
yan's first  wife  brought  him  in  his  far-ofi*  Elstow  days.     The 

*  Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  Badman,  presented  to  the  world  in  a  familiar  dialogue 
between  Mr.  Wiseman  and  Mr.  Attentive.  London :  Nathaniel  Ponder,  1680. 
Leven  en  Sterven  van  Meester  Quaadt.  Amsterdam:  1685.  Mr.  Quaats  Leben  und 
Sterben.  Hamburg:  1767.  Bywyd  a  marwolaeth  yr  annuwiol  dan  enw  Mr. 
Brygddyn.  Lerpwl,  1782.  12mo.  Beath  agus  Bus  Mhr  Broch-dhuine.  Inver- 
ness :  1824.     r2mo. 


16S0.]  IXTFRVAL  BETWEEN  1676—1682.  317 

resemblance  between  Dent's  work  and  Bunyan's  is  too  close  to 
be  merely  accidental.  In  each  the  dialogue  is  supposed  to  be 
carried  on  through  one  long  day.  Bunyan's  Mr.  Wiseman,  like 
Dent's  Theologus,  holds  forth  instructive  discourse,  while  the 
Mr.  Attentive  of  the  former,  like  the  Philagathus  of  the  latter, 
listens  and  draws  on  his  teacher  by  friendly  questionings. 
There  is  not  in  Bunyan's  conference,  as  there  is  in  Dent's,  an 
Asunetus,  who  plays  the  part  of  an  ignorant  man,  to  come  out 
enlightened  and  convinced  at  last,  or  an  Antilegon  who  carps 
and  cavils  all  the  way  ;  and  there  is  not  in  Dent's  book  what 
there  is  in  Bunyan's,  a  biographical  narrative  connecting  the 
various  parts  of  the  dialogue  ;  but  the  groundwork  of  each  is 
the  same — a  searching  manifestation  of  the  nature  and  evils  of 
pride,  uncleanness,  swearing,  dishonesty,  lying,  and  drunken- 
ness. 

Badman  is  the  typical  scoundrel  whose  story  is  opened 
up  to  Attentive  by  his  neighbour  Wiseman  as  together  they 
speak  of  the  passing  bell,  which  yesterday  tolled  for  this  man 
who  has  gone  from  life  to  death.  Badman  was  his  name,  and 
he  was  bad  from  the  first,  even  as  a  child,  lying  and  standing 
to  his  lies,  and  given  to  pilfering  and  profanity.  His  father, 
baffled,  put  him  apprentice  to  a  godly  master,  whose  good 
ways  the  lad  will  have  none  of.  This  master  he  first  robs,  and 
then  runs  away  from,  and  so  comes  to  the  end  of  the  first  stag(! 
of  his  unpromising  career.  His  next  master  was  as  bad  as 
himself  They  were  well  met  for  wickedness,  and  could  young 
Badman  have  filled  his  master's  purse  by  his  unprincipled 
ways,  "  he  had  certainly  been  his  whiteboy,"  but  as  bad  men 
have  no  greater  liking  to  having  their  business  neglected,  their 
tills  robbed,  and  their  families  seduced  than  good  men  have,  ho 
and  his  master  were  at  odds,  llis  father  next  starts  him  in 
business,  but  he  is  no  sooner  set  up  than  he  is  set  down  again, 
for  he  gatliers  loose  companions  about  liim  wlio  *?\::^\r  him  to  tlio 
alehouse  and  make  him  "  jatk-pay-for-all,"  burrow  nidiKy 
from  him  and  forget  to  repay  it;  so  want  comes  upon  him  like 
an  armed  man.  But  his  uu(hicity  hides  his  condition  till  by  u 
b(jld  stroke  lie  Ijuh  retrieved  it.  Tall  and  fair,  and  not  without 
natural  parts,  ho  marries  an  orplian  with  momy,  who  little 
dreamed   that  her  peace  and  comt'ort,  her  estate  and   liberty, 


318  JOHN  B  UNYAN.  [chap.  xiii. 

were  all  going  to  their  burial  when  she  was  going  to  her  bridal. 
With  the  money  thus  obtained  he  pays  his  debts,  only  that  he 
may  run  into  debt  the  deeper  while  seeming  to  drive  a  brisk 
trade.  He  plays  his  part  according  to  the  company  in  which 
he  happens  to  be,  chuckling  over  his  craft  the  while.  So  he 
goes  on,  and  after  making  show  of  great  trade,  and  getting 
large  credit,  makes  "hatfuls  of  money"  by  breaking,  coming 
out  of  his  bankruptcy  a  better  man  than  when  he  shut  up  shop 
by  several  thousands  of  pounds.  No  one  is  surprised  to  find 
before  long  that  he  is  in  business  again,  and  as  before  he 
defrauded  his  creditors,  now  he  cheats  his  customers,  keeping 
weights  to  buy  by  and  weights  to  sell  by,  measures  to  sell  by 
and  measures  to  buy  by.  Let  customer  or  chapman  watch  him 
ever  so  closely,  he  will  with  sleight  of  hand  get  little  turns  of 
advantage,  and  misreckon  men's  accounts  to  their  detriment, 
so  that  in  time  Badman  now  grows  well-to-do,  and  though  his 
neighbours  have  no  faith  in  the  man,  yet  he  is  prosperous,  and 
prosperity  covers  over  much  that  is  odious.  He  struts  in  the 
sunlight,  and  is  proud  and  vain,  shews  great  height,  and  is  of  a 
domineering  spirit.  If  you  quote  the  Scriptures  against  him 
he  will  ask  you  how  you  know  them  to  be  the  word  of  God, 
and  would  say  that  the  Scriptures  were  as  a  nose  of  wax,  and 
a  man  may  turn  them  whithersoever  he  lists.  He  is  happy  if 
only  he  can  lay  hold  of  some  scandal,  no  matter  how  false, 
against  a  godly  man.  "  0  !  then  he  would  glory,  laugh,  and 
be  glad,  and  lay  it  upon  the  whole  party,  saying,  '  Hang  them 
rogues ;  there  is  not  a  barrel  better  herring  of  all  the  holy 
brotherhood  of  them.  Like  to  like,  quoth  the  devil  to  the 
collier ;  this  is  your  precise  crew.'  And  then  he  would  send 
all  home  with  a  curse." 

Yet  even  he  cannot  climb  above  the  clouds  which  now 
darken  round  him.  In  a  drunken  fit  he  comes  by  a  broken  leg, 
and  dangerous  illness  seizes  upon  him.  He  is  penitent,  but 
for  no  longer  than  he  is  in  peril.  His  fine  words  when  he  is 
ill  are  followed  by  no  good  actions  when  he  is  well.  After 
years  of  trouble  his  poor  broken-hearted  wife  is  laid  in  the 
quiet  grave,  while  retribution  in  kind  comes  back  ;  for  by-and- 
bye,  while  in  his  cups,  he  is  tricked  into  a  marriage  with  a 
woman  as  vile  as  himself,  and  as  the  years  went  by  they  sinned 


1680.]  JXTFRVAL  BETIVEEN  \e>1&—\&%2.  319 

all  away,  and  "  parted  as  poor  as  howlets."  He  would  have 
his  way,  and  she  hers,  he  his  companions  and  she  hers,  and  so 
"they  brought  their  noble  to  ninepence."  Thus  the  story 
comes  to  its  miserable  end,  the  man  dying  as  he  had  lived, 
worthless  and  impenitent. 

Such  is  an  outline  of  the  story  of  this  book,  in  which  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  powerful  writing,  not  a  little  keen  insight 
into  character  and  knowledge  of  life,  but  which  it  is  impossible 
to  read  without  feeling  that  artistically  it  is  beneath  the  level 
of  the  "  Pilgrim  "  story  which  went  before  it.  It  would  be  easy 
to  point  out  many  vividly  picturesque  and  life-like  touches  in 
the  book,  but  the  book  as  a  whole  is  weig-hted,  as  the  "  Pilirrim  " 
is  not,  by  a  series  of  otherwise  excellent  dissertations  on  lying, 
swearing,  stealing,  impurity,  dishonest  bankruptcy,  pride,  and 
the  like,  whic-h  run  on  to  such  length  that  vou  lose  the  thread 
of  the  narrative  while  listening  to  the  moralities  of  the  sermon. 
Then,  too,  there  are  stories  introduced  by  the  way  which  are 
sometimes  clownish,  sometimes  commonplace,  and  sometimes 
simply  unbelievable  now,  though  Bunyan  evidently  believed 
them  then.  Yet,  with  all  these  deductions,  we  may  assent  in 
the  main  to  Mr.  Froude's  admirable  summing-up  of  the  book 
when  he  says,  "  It  is  extremely  interesting  merely  as  a  picture 
of  vulgar  English  life  in  a  provincial  town,  such  as  Bedford  was 
when  Bunyan  lived  there.  The  drawing  is  so  good,  tlie  details 
so  minute,  the  conception  so  unexaggerated,  that  we  are  dis- 
posed to  believe  that  we  must  have  a  real  history  before  us. 
But  such  a  supposition  is  only  a  compliment  to  the  skill  of  the 

composer liunyan  conceals  nothing,  assumes  nothing. 

and  exaggerates  nothing.  He  makes  his  bad  iiiaii  slLiip  and 
shrewd.  I  To  allows  sharpness  and  shrewdness  to  bring  him 
the  rewards  which  such  qualities  in  fact  command,  l^adiuan 
is  successful ;  he  is  powerful  ;  he  enjoys  all  the  pleasures  which 
money  can  buy  ;  his  bad  wife  helps  him  fo  ruin,  but  otherwiso 
he  is  not  unhappy,  and  he  dies  in  peace.  Bunyan  has  made 
him  a  brute,  because  such  men  do  become  brutes.  It  is  the 
real  puninhnient  of  brutal  and  sellish  habits.  'J'here  the  (iguro 
stands:  a  picture  of  a  man  in  the  ranks  of  Mnglish  life  with 
wliicli  JJunyan  was  most  familiar,  travelling  along  ll>e  primrose 
path  to  the  eveilahtiug  bonfire,  as  the  way  to  Emmanuel's  Laud 


320 


JOKN  BVNYAN. 


[chap.  XIII. 


was  through  the  Slough  of  Despond  and  the  Valley  of  the 
Shadow  of  Death.  Pleasures  are  to  be  found  among  the  prim- 
roses, such  pleasures  as  a  brute  can  be  gratified  by ;  yet  the 
reader  feels  that  even  if  there  were  no  bonfire,  he  would  still 
prefer  to  be  with  Christian."  '"" 

*  English  Men  of  Letters — Bunyan,  pp.  112-113. 


Bunyan's  Cabinet  and  Staff. 
[Formerly  in  the  possession  of  Bunyan's  great-granddaughter,  Mrs.  Bithrey.] 


XIV. 

:maxsoul  A^^D  the  bedfop.d  coRroRA'rroN. 

After  the  appearance  of  the  "  Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  Badman  " 
iu  IGSO,  we  have  nothing  further  from  Banyan's  pen  for  the 
next  two  years.  During  this  time,  however,  he  was  engaged 
upon  his  second  greatest  work,  "The  Holy  War,  made  by 
Shaddai  upon  Diaholus."*  It  was  published  by  Dorman  New- 
man, at  the  King's  Arms  in  the  Poultry  in  1682,  and  Macaulay 
has  said  of  it  that  it  would  have  been  our  greatest  religious 
allegory  if  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  had  never  been  written. 
Perhaps  there  would  be  more  discrimination  in  saying  that  in 
the  subtlety  of  its  psychological  distinctions  and  the  com- 
pleteness of  its  details  the  "  Holy  "War  "  is  superior  to  the 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  but  that  judged  by  the  standard  of  epic 
completeness,  and  by  the  power  of  laying  hold  of  the  simple 
instincts  of  the  heart,  it  is  greatly  inferior.  The  characters  in 
the  former  work  are  mere  abstractions  when  compared  with 
those  of  the  latter.  Captain  Credence  and  Captain  Conviction, 
for  example,  are  shadowy  shapes  indeed  by  the  side  of  Mr. 
Greatheart  in  his  brave  humanness,  or  Old  Honest  in  his 
sturdy   directness.     Both  books   are  alike  in  this,   tliat  wliilo 

•  The  Iloh/  War,  made  by  Shaddai  upon  I)iHl)oluH  for  tlio  r«  <,'iiiniiij::  of  tho 
Metnji>olia  of  the  World  ;  or  the  LoNiii^?  and  Taking  af,':iiii  of  tho  Town  of 
'h\'\niMi\x\.  By  John  IJunyan.  I»ndon  :  I'rinted  for  Dorman  Xricmtin  at  the 
A  ii  ArntM  in  the  I'tJiiltry  anA  Jienjumin  AUop  at  tho  Ant/el  and  Jlifi/e  in  tho 
/  !ry,  1G82.  JJch  lifijhyen  (JurliMjh  ....  Uyt  't  KiikcIh  Vortiuilt.  Anistirdam, 
I'.'ij.  Vlmo.  Iter  llciUye  Kneg  ....  Ins  Hmhloutscho  ubenjetz.et  von 
Johann  liango.  I>jndon,  17'il.  8vo.  Y  Rhyfel  Yibrydol.  C'aorfyrd.lin,  1812. 
12nio.  La  .Sainte  O'uerre,  truduito  do  rAiigiaiH.  I'ariB,  1842.  Jutclulnudh 
fh\rntneat-h  m  'tin  Choyadh  narmh.  (jidar-tlKutiguicht^!  gii  Uaelig  1«  I.  KoHU. 
Dannidin,  ISIC.  The  Holy  War,  in  Oriya.  Cutlack,  1851.  A»  (I'lierras  da 
fanuita  Ctudade  dt  Almumana,  1870.  Timo.  The  Holy  War,  in  Ueiigiili,  N.D. 
The  Holii  War,  in  (';iiiiir<;<to,  tninnlat^l  from  tho  Tamil  vintion.  liaiigaloro. 
1884.  The  Holy  War  in  Arabic,  with  18  rtita.  Den  hellxgc  Krig  (Norsk). 
li«igcD:    1878.     Mbuk  Eduana  Ekon  {V.ftV).    lUbO. 

Y 


322  JOHN  BUNTAN.  fcHAP.  xiv. 

they  move  in  the  region  of  the  spiritual  and  supernatural,  they 
at  the  same  time  tread  the  common  earth,  their  scenes  and  circum- 
stances heing  drawn  from  the  writer's  actual  surroundings. 

If  it  be  true,  as  has  been  said,  that  in  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress" 
"  Bunyan's  men  are  not  merely  life  portraits  but  English  por- 
traits, men  of  the  solid,  practical,  unimpassioned  Midland  race," 
it  is  also  true  that  in  the  "  Holy  "War  "  we  move  in  the  midst 
of  many  of  the  scenes  and  surroundings  through  which  Bunyan 
himself  had  moved.  He  may,  like  Milton,  take  us  down  to 
Pandemonium  when  Diabolus  is  in  council,  or  up  to  the  central 
heaven  where  the  purposes  of  the  Eternal  are  unfolded ;  but  Man- 
soul  itself,  with  its  walls,  gates,  strongholds,  and  sallyport,  largely 
took  shape  in  his  mind  from  the  garrison  at  Newport  Pagnell, 
or  the  fortifications  of  the  Newarke  at  Leicester.  The  army  of 
Shaddai,  with  its  captains  clad  in  armour,  its  forces  marching, 
counter-marching,  opening  to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  dividing 
and  subdividing,  closing,  wheeling,  making  good  their  front  and 
rear,  with  their  right  and  left  wings,  the  handling  of  their  arms, 
the  management  of  their  weapons  of  war,  which  "  were  mar- 
vellous taking  to  Mansoul  and  me,"  all  these  were  reminiscences 
of  Cromwell's  army  of  the  new  model,  and  of  the  military 
manoeuvres  in  which  he  himself  had  taken  part  under  Sir 
Samuel  Luke.  So  again  Diabolus  new  modelling  the  corpora- 
tion, changing  mayor,  recorder,  aldermen,  and  burgesses  at 
pleasure,  was  simply  doing  the  same  thing  the  king  and 
Lord  Ailesbury  were  doing  at  Bedford  about  the  time  the 
"Holy  "War"  was  written.  The  taking  away  of  the  town  charter 
also  and  the  granting  of  another  which  was  read  to  the  people  of 
Mansoul  in  the  open  market-place,  are  scenes  bearing  strong 
resemblance  to  those  in  which  Lord  Bruce  took  part  before 
the  old  Guildhall  in  Bedford  town  when  Bunyan  was  living 
there. 

Turning  to  the  book  itself,  the  writer  tells  us  that  in  his 
travels  he  came  upon  the  famous  continent  of  Universe,  a  large 
and  spacious  country  lying  between  the  two  poles  and  amidst 
the  four  points  of  the  heavens.  Its  people  are  many  and 
various,  some  of  them  being  right  and  some  wrong,  even  as  it 
happeneth  to  be  in  lesser  regions.  In  this  country  there  is  a 
fair  and  delicate  town,  a  corporation  called  Mansoul,  built  by 


1682.]     MAXSOJJL  AXD  BEBFOni)  CORPORATIOX.       323 


•J 


its  founder  Shaddui  for  lais  own  delight,  a  town  with  walls  so 
firm  that  it  could  not  be  hurt  but  by  the  consent  of  the  towns- 
men themselves. 

Its  inhabitants  being  beguiled,  Mansoul  is  taken  by  Diabolus, 
after  which  the  image  of  Shaddai  is  defaced  from  the  castle 
gate ;  there  is  a  new  mayor,  a  new  recorder  ;  new  aldermen 
and  burgesses  are  made,  and  three  strongholds  are  built  in  the 
town,  the  hold  of  Defiance,  Midnight-hold,  and  Sweet-sin-hold. 
Thus  was  Mansoul  changed  and  lost. 

Tidings  of  all  this  is  soon  carried  to  its  lawful  prince,  and  in 
due  time  the  army  of  Shaddai,  forty  thousand  strong,  appears 
before  the  town  and  begins  to  do  execution.  That  winter  was  a 
winter  by  itself.  The  rest  of  Diabolus  was  broken,  the  towns- 
people were  distressed,  famine  stalked  into  Mansoul,  and  upon 
all  her  pleasant  things  there  was  blast  and  burning  instead  of 
beauty.  The  climax  of  interest  is  reached,  however,  when 
Prince  Emmanuel  himself,  the  son  of  King  Shaddai,  appears 
before  the  gates  of  the  town  and  plants  his  standard.  On 
being  summoned  to  surrender,  the  tow^n  sends  one  Mr.  Loth- 
to- stoop,  a  stiff  man  in  his  way,  who  tries  to  make  terms  by 
offering  to  deliver  up  one-half  the  town  if  Diabolus  may  keep 
the  rest.  But  Emmanuel  claims  and  will  be  content  with 
nothing  less  than  the  w'hole.  Then  may  Diabolus  have  some 
one  reserved  place  in  Mansoul  ?  No,  not  so  much  as  the  least 
comer.  May  he  sometimes  come  for  old  acquaintance  sake  ? 
Nay,  for  even  chance  visits  from  such  a  guest  may  cost  men 
their  souls.  May  his  friends  and  kindred  have  liberty  to  trade 
in  the  town,  or  letters  or  passengers  keep  up  old  friendsliip, 
or  love-tokens  be  left  to  be  looked  at  when  he  is  gone,  or  per- 
mission be  granted  for  special  visits  at  times  ? 

All  concessions  being  refused,  the  stress  of  siege  is  begun 
and  the  town  is  assaulted  and  regained.  The  prince  in  armour 
of  gold  marches  in,  his  standard  borne  before  him,  while  the 
Man.soulians  are  in  deadly  fear  at  the  fate  that  nuiy  await 
them.  To  their  infinite  joy,  however,  instead  of  being  punished 
they  are  pardoned,  instead  of  being  handed  over  to  death  they 
are  welcomed,  freed  from  tlieir  fetters  and  adorned.  That 
niglit  no  man  in  Mansoul  could  sleep  for  joy.  The  prince's 
pardon  was  read  in  the  open  market-place  by  the  recorder,  and 

V  2 


324  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiv. 

order  was  given  to  the  young  men — the  lately  born  desires  of 
the  soul — to  ring  the  bells. 

Mansoul  thus  regained  was  reconstructed.  New  officers 
were  appointed,  a  new  charter  of  privilege  was  granted  and 
was  carried  to  Audience,  that  is  to  the  market-place,  Mr. 
E,ecorder  reading  it  there  in  the  presence  of  all  the  people  ;  a 
ministry  was  provided  such  as  might  teach  them  both  law  and 
judgment,  statute  and  commandment,  that  they  might  be  docu- 
mented in  all  good  and  wholesome  things.  The  two  teachers 
appointed  for  this  were,  one  from  the  royal  court — the  Spirit  of 
Truth,  well- skilled  in  all  mysteries — the  other  a  native  of  Man- 
soul,  Mr.  Conscience  by  name.  The  town  thus  new  modelled 
and  provided  for  had  this  further  badge  of  honour  conferred 
upon  it,  that  the  townspeople  were  clad  in  white  and  glistering 
robes.  No  place  like  Mansoul  now  !  It  was  the  very  signet 
upon  Emmanuel's  right  hand,  and  there  was  no  town,  city,  or 
corporation  that  could  compare  with  it.  There  was  this  fur- 
ther thing  to  be  noted,  that  the  town  was  put  under  the  care  of 
a  new  officer,  and  a  goodly  person  he  was,  Mr,  God's-peace  by 
name.  So  long  as  all  things  went  as  this  sweet-natured  gen- 
tleman would,  there  were  no  jars,  no  chidings,  no  interferings, 
no  unfaithful  doings,  in  all  the  town  of  Mansoul.  Every  man 
kept  close  to  his  own  employment.  The  gentry,  the  officers, 
the  soldiers,  and  all  in  the  place  observed  their  order.  And  as  for 
the  women  and  children  of  the  town,  they  followed  their  busi- 
ness joyfully.  They  would  work  and  sing,  work  and  sing, 
from  morning  till  night,  so  that  quite  through  the  town  now 
nothing  was  to  be  found  but  harmony,  quietness,  joy,  and 
health.     And  this  lasted  all  that  summer. 

Mansoul  thus  redeemed  and  reconciled,  the  Holy  War  may 
be  said  to  be  at  an  end.  But  life  in  this  imperfect  world  is 
never  a  thing  of  artistic  completeness.  Even  in  reconstructed 
Mansoul  there  still  lurked  secret  Diabolonians  whom  it  was 
needful  to  drive  out.  The  rest  of  the  book,  therefore,  is 
occupied  with  two  perils  which  loomed  large  to  Bunyan's 
thought  as  besetting  the  Christian  soul — that  of  being  again 
seduced  from  the  right  by  the  world's  blandishments,  and  that 
of  being  forced  from  it  by  the  world's  persecutions.  The  first 
peril  came  upon  the  town  through  one  ]\[r.  Carnal  Security, 


1682.]     JIAXSOrL  AXD  BEDFOnD  CORPORATIOX.       325 

a  very  busy  man  ;  notable  and  brisk  was  he,  and  one  who  liked 
to  stand,  in  his  way  of  standing,  with  what  he  took  to  be 
the  strongest  side.  Under  the  influence  of  this  man  and  the 
like  of  him  ^[ansoul  began  to  be  corrupted  by  riches.  Being 
a  market  town  and  one  that  delights  in  commerce,  there  was 
sent  into  it  Mr.  Penny-wise-pound-foolish  and  Mr.  Get-i'th'- 
hundred-and-lose-i'th' -shire,  with  whom  were  Mr.  Sweet- 
world  and  Mr.  Present  -  good.  Their  great  object  was  to 
cumber  !Mansoul  with  abundance,  that  the  townspeople  should 
be  forced  to  make  Heart  Castle  a  warehouse  instead  of  a  gar- 
rison, for  if  they  can  only  overcharge  the  heart  with  possessions 
and  cares  the  place  is  more  than  half  won.  This  was  accounted 
the  very  masterpiece  of  hell,  to  wit,  to  choke  Mansoul  with  the 
fulness  of  this  world  and  to  surfeit  her  heart  with  the  good 
things  thereof.  From  this  peril  Emmanuel  saves  the  town, 
however,  and  once  more  makes  joyous  entry  therein. 

Then  comes  peril  from  the  opposite  quarter,  from  the  world's 
scorn  and  cruel  persecution.  An  army  of  Bloodmen,  whose 
land  lieth  under  the  Dogstar,  and  with  them  another  army  of 
Doubters  five-and-twenty  thousand  strong,  came  against  Man- 
soul  and  sent  in  hot  as  a  red-hot  iron  a  summons  to  yield. 
The  siege  this  time  was  long ;  many  a  fierce  attempt  was 
made,  many  a  shrewd  brush  met  with  by  the  townsmen.  At 
length  a  charge  was  made  by  Emmanuel's  men,  and  the  Blood- 
men  would  have  fled  ;  for  though  cruel  enough  when  they  feel 
themselves  safe  all  Bloodmen  are  chicken-hearted  when  they 
arc  matched.  Captured  and  taken  before  Emmanuel,  they 
were  found  on  examination  to  be  of  three  sorts — those  who 
came  out  of  Blindinansliire,  and  did  ignoranlly  what  they  did  ; 
those  who  came  (tut  of  Blindzealsliire,  and  acted  superstitiously ; 
and  those  who  came  out  of  the  town  of  Malice,  in  the  county 
of  Envy,  who  acted  from  spite — a  threefold  division  of  per- 
secutors not  yet  obsolete. 

Manstjul  thus  once  more  rescued,  various  lurking  Diabo- 
lonians,  both  foreign  and  native,  were  taken,  tried,  and  ex- 
ecuted. One  of  them,  however,  Mr.  Unbelief,  a  nimble  jack, 
they  could  never  lay  hold  of,  try  as  they  would,  and  he  is  thought 
to  bo  skulking  about  still.  Hut  tlie  rest  being  slain.  Prince 
Emmanuel,  on  a  day  apjnjinled,  came  into  the  market-place  iu 


326  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiv. 

his  chariot  of  state,  and  an  0  yes  !  being  called  for  silence,  he 
addressed  the  assembled  townsmen  of  Mansoul.  After  a 
time,  he  told  them,  this  famous  town  of  theirs  should  be  trans- 
planted into  his  own  country,  and  there  set  up  in  such  strength 
and  glory  as  it  never  knew  before.  Into  it  should  come  no 
more  sound  of  evil  tidings  or  roll  of  Diabolonian  drum.  Fears 
and  alarms  should  be  ended,  sorrow  and  grief  be  no  more,  and 
life  should  last  longer  than  they  were  even  able  to  desire  it 
here,  yet  ever  be  sweet  and  new.  Meanwhile  they  were  to 
keep  white  the  liveries  he  gave  them,  to  believe  in  the  con- 
stancy of  his  love,  and  to  hold  fast  till  he  came  again. 

The  year  1681,  when  Bunyan  was  engaged  upon  the  com- 
position of  the  "  Holy  War,"  was  a  year  of  grave  reaction  in 
the  government  of  the  country.  On  the  18th  of  January, 
Charles  dissolved  his  fourth  Parliament,  and  shortly  after 
summoned  his  fifth.  This  again  met  one  Monday  to  be  dis- 
solved the  next,  and  during  the  remaining  four  years  of  his 
reign  the  King  summoned  no  more  Parliaments,  resolving,  like 
his  father  before  him,  to  govern  without  them.  But  while 
trampling  upon  the  constitution,  he  desired  to  do  so  with  a  look 
of  fair  seeming.  From  Whitehall  he  issued  a  Declaration  ex- 
plaining why  he  had  dissolved  his  two  last  Parliaments,  The 
House,  he  said,  had  stood  in  his  way  in  carrying  out  the  laws 
against  the  Nonconformists,  and  upon  it,  not  upon  the  Crown, 
must  rest  the  blame  of  all  unconstitutional  proceedings.  The 
document  was  shrewdly  constructed  to  catch  the  sympathy  of 
the  High  Church  party,  and  it  succeeded.  The  Declaration 
was  ordered  to  be  read  in  all  churches  and  chapels  during 
divine  service,  and  was  responded  to  by  loyal  addresses  sent  up 
by  that  party  from  all  sides  of  the  country.  Not  the  least 
obsequious  of  these  was  "  The  Humble  Address  of  the  Lieutenant, 
Deputy-Lieutenant,  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Military  Officers, 
Clergy,  Gentlemen,  and  Freeholders  of  the  County  of  Bedford," 
in  which  they  speak  of  "  His  Majestie's  Princely  goodness, 
justice,  and  mercy,  and  of  the  benign  influence  of  his  most 
equal  and  prudent  Government," 

"  But  your  Majestie's  late  Gracious  Declaration  as  it  hath  made 
us  the  most  obhged,  so  should  we  be  the  most  ungrateful  people  in 


1681.]     MAXSOUL  AXD  BEDFORD  CORPORATJOX.       327 

the  world  if  we  did  not  profess  (what  we  here  in  all  humility  do) 
our  most  hearty  and  thankful  Resentment  of  the  Eoyal  Assurance 
you  are  pleased  to  give  us  therein  to  remove  all  the  reasonable  fears 
and  causeless  jealousies  which  some  ill  men  (whose  attempts  we 
abhor  and  detest)  have  endeavoured  to  insinuate  into  the  people, 
thus  weakening  your  Majestie's  Prerogative  (which  by  law  we  are 
bound  to  support)  and  defaming  the  true  Sons  of  the  Church  of 
England,  which  (as  now  Established)  is  the  best  if  not  the  only 
Bulwark  against  Popery.  That  your  Alajesty  may  see  we  are  not 
swaid  by  any  such  seditious  and  factious  designs,  we  do  assure  Your 
Sacred  Majesty  That  we  will  (as  in  duty  and  conscience  bound) 
stand  by  You  to  the  utmost  hazard  of  our  Lives  and  Estates  in  the 
Preservation  of  Your  Sacred  Person,  your  Heirs  and  Lawful  Suc- 
cessors, and  the  Government  in  Church  and  State,  as  it  is  now 
Established  by  Law."  * 

This  address  to  the  King  in  June,  1681,  when  he  was  engaged 
in  actual  treason  against  the  ancient  constitution  of  the  realm, 
was  signed  by  about  two  hundred  persons  in  Bedfordshire — not 
a  very  heavy  representation  for  the  county  at  large. 

These  addresses,  as  Burnet  tells  us,  were  very  welcome  at 
Court,  and  were  encouraged  to  the  utmost.  The  London 
apprentices  were  put  into  the  way  of  sending  one,  so  were  the 
sailors  and  watermen.  Those  who  brought  them  were  well 
received,  healtli.s  were  drunk,  and  the  old  cavalier  swaggerings 
revived.  Encouraged  in  this  way,  the  King  resolved  to  make  a 
systematic  attack  upon  the  municipal  charters  of  the  country. 
The  old  corporations  had  great  influence  in  the  election  of 
members  to  Parliament,  for  if  the  burgesses  determined  who  the 
members  should  be,  the  corporations  determined  who  the  bur- 
gesses should  be.  The  King  therefore  resolved  to  secure  the 
control  of  the  corporations,  and  througli  lliein  of  Parliament, 
liondon  was  dealt  with  first,  and  afterwards,  on  one  j)re- 
tcnce  or  another,  borough  after  borough  was  compelled  to 
surrender  its  ancient  privileges,  and  accept  a  new  charter 
at  the  hands  of  the  King.  As  lied  ford  happens  to  furnish 
a  good  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  corporations  wore 
at  that  time  manipulated,  charters  surrendered,  and  oflicials 
displaced,  and  as  a  review  of  the  course  of  local  events 
will  give  us  a  vivid  picture  of  the   surroundings  of  Bunyan's 

•   Bed/ordthtre  Notti  and  Queru*,  pp.  fl,  7. 


328  JOJIN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiv. 

life  at  a  period  when  he  must  have  been  keenly  interested  in 
local  affairs,  it  may  be  well  to  give  the  story  here  for  the  first 
time  from  materials  recently  come  to  light. 

Charles's  last  Parliament  was  dissolved  on  the  28th  of  March, 
1681,  and  a  few  weeks  later  an  Order  in  Council  was  made  to 
inquire  whether  all  the  officials  of  the  Bedford  Corporation  had 
complied  with  the  regulations.  It  was  found  that  Miles  Wale 
and  Andrew  Freebody,  the  chamberlains  of  the  town,  had  not 
taken  the  sacrament  at  Church  within  twelve  months  of  their 
being  elected  ;  their  places  thereupon  were  declared  void  till 
they  had  duly  qualified.  The  following  December  the  Deputy- 
Recorder  of  the  town,  Mr.  Robert  Audley,  was  accused  at  the 
council  at  Whitehall  of  being  "  an  enemy  to  the  Government 
and  to  the  Church  of  England,  and  a  great  countenancer  of 
conventicles  and  phanaticks  in  the  town  of  Bedford.  And 
though  there  were  many  other  aldermen  disaffected,  yet  he  was 
the  great  head  and  pillar  of  the  disaffected  party."*  The  Earl 
of  Ailesbury,  whose  country  seat  was  at  Houghton  House,  near 
Ampthill,  who  was  Lord-Lieutenant  of  the  county,  one  of  the 
Privy  Council,  and  also  hand-in-glove  with  the  King  in  his 
policy,  moved  thereupon  that  Mr.  Audley  and  other  aldermen 
should  be  displaced  by  virtue  of  the  Corporation  Act.  The 
town  was  troubled  at  this,  and  prevailed  on  the  Recorder  to 
appear  at  the  council  table  on  his  own  behalf  and  theirs,  which 
he  did.  In  his  sturdy  English  fashion,  we  are  interested  in 
reading,  old  Mr.  Audley  told  the  King  that  he  was  Recorder 
of  Bedford,  that  he  was  an  officer  under  the  King's  father 
throughout  the  whole  war,  and  that  when  the  war  was  over  he 
was  driven  out  of  the  kingdom  and  his  estate  sequestered.  He 
went  on  to  say  that  he  was  as  truly  loyal  now  as  he  was  then  ; 
that  so  far  from  being  a  conventicler,  he  was  never  at  a  con- 
venticle in  his  life,  but  if  the  conventiclers  preached  as  well  as 
they  were  reported  to  him  to  do,  and  churchmen  as  ill  as  those 
did  that  he  had  heard  of  late,  he  thought  it  not  unlikely  that 
he  might  go  to  conventicles  yet,  but  at  present  his  acquaint- 
ance lay  chiefly  with  the  opposite  sort.  And  so  the  complaint 
fell,  and  Mr.  Audley  went  home  again. f     We  are  all  the  more 

*  Dr.  Williams'  MS. — Morrlce's  Entering  Booh. 
t  Ihid.,  i.  320. 


1681.]      JUXSOUL  AND  BEDFOBD  COIiPOJiATTOX.      329 

interested  in  this  because  the  conventicle  preacher  for  whom 
the  Recorder  spoke  up  was  no  other  than  Bun  van  himself,  and 
the  conventicle  referred  to  was  the  barn  in  Mill  Lane  towards 
which  our  thoughts  have  so  often  been  turned. 

But  though  the  old  man  was  for  the  moment  victorious  at 
"VThitehall,  his  enemies  soon  found  other  means  of  working  their 
will.  In  the  minute  book  of  the  Bedford  Corporation  we  have 
this  entry — "  It  is  ordained  that  from  henceforth  Mr.  Audloy, 
y*  Deputy  Recorder,  shall  not  have  any  vote  in  Common 
Councill  or  other  Assembleys  of  the  Corporacon."  Still  later, 
things  are  still  going  against  him,  we  find,  as  we  read  a  private 
letter  from  Lord  Bruce  to  the  Maj'or,  who  is  none  other  than 
our  old  acquaintance  of  1661,  Paul  Cobb,  M'ho  went  to  Bunyan 
in  prison  and  tried  to  bring  him  to  what  he  thought  a  more 
reasonable  state  of  mind :  "  Mr.  Mayor,"  says  Lord  Bruce,  "  I 
received  your  letter,  and  am  glad  to  find  by  it  that  you  have 
made  so  good  a  choice  in  y^  room  of  Mr.  Audley.  I  have 
taken  occasion  to  applaud  your  actions  since  you  came  in  your 
office  where  it  was  well  resented."  This  little  episode  is 
strongly  suggestive  of  that  passage  in  the  "  Holy  War"  where 
Uiabolus  bethinks  himself  of  new-modelling  the  town  of  Man- 
soul,  setting  up  one  and  putting  down  another  at  pleasure,  and 
where  he  puts  Mr.  Recorder,  whose  name  was  Conscience,  out 
of  place  and  power.  "  For  as  for  Mr.  Recorder,  he  was  a  man 
of  courage  and  faithfulness  to  speak  truth  at  every  occasion, 
and  he  had  a  tongue  as  bravely  hung  as  he  had  a  head  filled 
with  judgment.  Now  this  man  Diabolus  could  by  no  means 
abide,  because  he  could  not  by  all  wiles,  trials,  stratagems,  and 
devices  that  he  could  use  make  him  wholly  his  own." 

The  displacement  of  Mr.  Audley,  who  was  before  the  Privy 
Council  about  the  time  Bunyan  was  writing  this  passage,  was 
a  small  part  of  the  process  of  change  to  be  carried  out  in  the 
Bedford  Corporation.  In  the  month  of  October,  168."},  no  less 
than  fifty-tliree  persons  wore  at  one  stroke  admitted  to  tho 
burgCHsdcjiii  of  the  town,  all  of  them  picked  men  on  tho  King's 
Bide.  Among  these  we  find  tho  two  younger  sons  of  the  Earl 
of  Ailcsbury,  Sir  Francis  Wingate,  William  Foster  and  his  son, 
und  many  of  tho  surrounding  gentry  and  clergy,  whose  prinuiry 
qualification  was  that  they  were  men  on  whom   Mr.  Cobb  and 


330  JOHN  B  UNYAN.  [chap.  xiv. 

his  colleagues  could  rely.  The  next  month,  again,  twenty-three 
more  were  added  from  the  families  of  the  Dyves,  the  Chesters, 
and  from  the  sons  of  safe  men  already  enrolled.  Seventy-six 
new  burgesses,  on  whom  reliance  could  he  placed,  added  to  a 
limited  burgess  list  in  the  short  space  of  two  months  made 
succeeding  steps  comparatively  easy.  When  all  preparations 
had  thus  been  carefully  made,  on  the  8th  of  January,  1684, 
"  It  is  agreed,  consented,  concluded,  and  ordeyned  unto,  by 
and  with  the  consent  of  y®  Maior,  Alldermen,  Bayliffes,  Bur- 
gesses, and  Comonalty  in  this  present  Councell,  That  y®  Charter 
of  this  ^Corporacon  bee  surrendered  and  given  up  to  His 
Majestic,  and  that  the  Maior  of  this  Corporation  doe  take  and 
carry  up  the  Charter  to  doe  the  same :  And  that  His  Majestic 
bee  humbly  petitioned  to  grant  the  town  a  new  one  with  like 
privileges  as  the  former  was,  or  such  other  priviledges  as  hee 
shall  bee  pleased  to  grant."* 

Thus  the  municipality  of  Bedford  was  at  the  King's  feet  to 
do  with  it  as  he  liked.  Yet  even  out  of  those  corrupt  hands 
that  placed  it  there  it  did  not  pass  without  a  struggle.  The 
Earl  of  Ailesbury,  and  his  son  Lord  Bruce,  found  it  necessary 
to  play  still  further  the  part  of  tempters  to  what  little  virtue 
there  still  remained  in  that  debased  corporation  over  which 
Mr.  Cobb  presided.  Before  the  surrender  was  finally  agreed 
upon,  an  efibrt  was  made  to  retain  some  part  of  the  privileges 
of  the  town,  on  which  Lord  Bruce  wrote  to  the  Mayor  as 
follows  : — 

"I  can  give  you  some  perfect  assurance  that  very  small  fees  will 
be  expected  as  things  are  ordered,  so  that  you  may  surrender  the 
wholle  charter  at  a  cheaper  ratte,  then  you  might  doe  as  you  pro- 
posed for  the  surrendering  of  y^  governing  part.  You  should  have 
an  Attorney  or  Sollicitor  in  town  to  manage  the  thing ;  if  you  desire 
it,  my  Chancery  Sollicitor  shall  take  care  in  it.  You  had  best  send 
me  your  objections  to  y^  totall  surrender.  I  guesse  there  is  none 
but  y^  Lands,  which  shall  be  taken  care  of  y^  same  as  those  of 
London  were.  What  else  you  have  to  say,  insert  it  in  your  letter, 
and  I  will  take  care  to  see  all  done  for  the  good  of  your  Corporation. 
I  am  your  most  assured  Friend,  Bruce."  -j- 

*  ]\Iinute  Book  of  the  Corporation. 

t  Original  MSS.  in  the  possession  of  W.  H.  Lloyd,  Esq.,  Bedford. 


1684.]      MANSOUL  AND  BEDFORD  CORPORATIOX.      331 

Thus  whispering  that  it  would  be  cheaper  to  surrender  their 
rights  than  to  keep  them,  with  dulcet  words  of  most  assured 
friendship  his  lordship  led  Mr.  Mayor  and  the  Corporation 
down  the  grassy  slopes  of  subserviency.  All  being  finally 
arranged,  Paul  Cobb,  with  the  Town  Charter  in  his  valise, 
takes  coach  for  London.  One  is  tempted  to  imagine  that 
John  Bunyan  happened  to  be  near  the  Old  Swan  gate  at  the 
foot  of  the  bridge  that  morning,  and  saw  him  start,  giving  his 
old  acquaintance  salutation,  and  thinking  of  the  surrender  of 
Mansoul  the  while.  As  for  Paul  himself,  he  is  in  high  spirits, 
and  is  thinking  of  quite  other  things  ;  for  he  is  to  be  present  at  a 
reception  by  the  Earl  and  his  son  Lord  Bruce,  who  has  told 
him  also  that  the  King  has  heard  good  things  about  him  quite 
lately  ;  he  will  be  in  the  sunshine  of  royal  smiles ;  he  may 
even  be  knighted  and  come  back  Sir  Paul,  who  knows?  In 
any  case  he  is  solicitor  as  well  as  mayor,  and,  as  we  find  from 
his  bill  afterwards,  he  sees  certain  prospect  of  substantial 
honorarium  for  "  my  trouble  and  charges  in  suing  out  the 
new  charter." 

This  new  charter  was  brought  down  on  the  19th  of  July  by 
the  Earl  of  Ailesbury  himself,  accompanied  by  the  deputy 
lieutenants,  justices  of  the  peace,  and  a  great  number  of  gen- 
tlemen. About  two  miles  from  the  town,  between  Wilstead 
and  Elstow,  they  were  met  by  a  deputation  from  the  town 
itself,  the  party  meeting  and  the  p«rty  met  making  up  together 
a  company  of  some  five  hundred  horse.  On  reaching  the 
High  Street,  there  were  great  rejoicings  before  the  Guildhall, 
the  new  charter  being  read  aloud  and  an  address  made  to  the 
people  afterwards  by  Lord  Ailesbury.  His  lordsliip  "was 
pleased  to  tell  them  how  great  Ilis  Majesty's  grace  and  favour 
had  been  to  them  (althougli  undeservedly),  and  how  highly 
they  were  obliged  from  thence  both  to  approve  themselves 
eminently  loyal,  «.nd  continue  so  for  ever."  It  was  quarter- 
sessions  at  the  time,  and  the  new  deputy  recorder  who  had 
stepped  into  ^Ir.  Audley's  place  gave  a  charge  to  the  grand 
jury,  in  which  he  spoke  much  to  the  same  effect.  All  this  was 
followed  by  a  sumptuous  banquet,  for  in  those  days  men  could 
not  even  surrender  their  privileges  witliout  dining  and  making 
merry    over    the  performance.      *'  After  u  splendid  eutortaiu- 


332  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiv. 

ment,"  says  a  clironicler  of  the  time,  "  the  Mayor,  Aldermen, 
and  whole  Corporation  returned  their  thanks  to  his  lordship 
for  honouring  the  town  with  his  presence,  and  did  entreat  him 
with  their  most  humble  duty  and  thanks  to  assure  His  Majesty 
of  their  steady  loyalty  for  the  future.  The  grand  jury  like- 
wise waited  on  his  lordship  to  desire  the  same  on  behalf  of 
themselves  and  the  whole  town."  * 

After  the  feast  came  the  reflection,  after  the  riot  the  reckon- 
ing. There  was  the  bill  for  the  "  splendid  entertainment  " 
and  for  the  "  claret,  sack,  and  white  wine  for  the  judges ; " 
there  was  the  money  for  the  bell-ringers  who  had  kept  the 
town  all  day  in  delirious  joy  over  its  good  fortune  ;  there  were 
host  Lowen's  charges  for  refreshing  innumerable  people  at  the 
Paradine  Arms ;  fees  for  all  sorts  of  ofiicials  in  London  who 
had  helped  the  town  to  change  a  good  charter  for  a  bad  one — 
the  Lord  Keeper's  Secretary,  the  Clerk  of  the  Hanaper,  and 
Mr.  Sambrooke ;  and  there  was  also  "  Mr.  Mayor's  charge  for 
acting  as  solicitor  in  the  town's  behalf;  " — all  these  amounting 
together  to  a  sum  it  was  not  pleasant  to  face.  To  meet  these 
charges  for  the  barter  a  tax  was  to  be  levied  upon  all  bur- 
gesses and  freemen,  foreigners  as  well  as  inhabitants.  This 
tax,  however,  proved  as  unproductive  as  it  was  unpopular. 
There  was  a  cloud  upon  the  face  of  IMr.  Mayor,  and  harmony 
had  so  far  departed  from  the  council  chamber,  that  it  was 
necessary  "  to  ordayne  that  noe  man  that  is  of  the  Councell 
shall  disclose  his  fellow's  counsell  upon  any  debate  whatsoever 
in  the  Councell,  under  a  penalty  of  forty  shillings,  the  like 
penalty  to  be  visited  upon  any  doorkeeper  who  should  disclose 
what  he  had  heard,  or  sufi'er  any  one  else  to  listen." 

Eventually  Mr.  Mayor,  who  was  a  man  of  resource,  hit  upon 
the  happy  device  of  raising  a  considerable  sum  by  granting  a 
lease  in  reversion  of  the  charity  lands  of  the  town  in  Holborn 
to  Nicholas  Barbon,  doctor  of  physic.  In  this  way  not  only 
were  all  the  charges  for  the  new  charter  met,  but  there  was 
also  a  surplus  left  of  £78,  which  Mr.  Cobb  divided  in  the  most 
approved  manner  between  himself  and  Mr.  Christy,  a  brother 
lawyer,  "  to  take  care  of,"  a  trust  which  Mr.  Mayor,  at  least,  so 
faithfully  performed,  that  six  years  later  it  required  the  threat 
*  Bedfordshire  Notes  and  Queries,  p.  8. 


1684.]     MAXSOUL  AXL  BEDFORD  CORPORATIOX.       333 

of  an  action  at  law  to  get  the  money  out  of  his  hands  for  public 
use. 

This  new  charter,  about  which  there  was  so  much  feasting 
and  financing,  gave  to  the  town  with  one  hand  the  privilege  of 
holding  two  new  fairs  yearly,  and  to  the  Crown  with  the  other 
absolute  control  over  the  Bedford  municipality.  Henceforth, 
by  a  simple  order  in  council,  the  King  could  remove  at  pleasure 
any  or  all  the  members  of  the  Corporation,  whether  mayor, 
aldermen,  or  councillors,  and  any  officer,  from  the  Lord  the 
Pcccorder  down  to  the  town  bailiif.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this 
despotic  power  was  not  exercised  till  on  the  eve  of  a  general 
election  four  years  later;  and  the  irony  of  the  situation  is  com- 
plete when  we  remember  that,  the  wheel  of  circumstance 
having  in  the  interval  "  gone  full  cycle  round,''  the  first  time 
it  was  exercised  was  to  turn  out  of  the  Corporation  the  very 
men  who  had  given  the  King  the  power  to  do  it,  and  who  in 
giving  him  that  power  had  betrayed  their  trust  and  surrendered 
the  ancient  rights  and  liberties  of  the  town. 

The  year  of  this  new  charter  was  made  painfully  memorable 
in  the  history  of  liedfordshire  by  the  execution  of  its  honoured 
representative  in  Parliament,  Lord  AVilliam  Russell.  On  the 
21st  of  July,  1G84,  two  days  after  the  rejoicings  at  Bedford,  Lord 
William  quietly  laid  his  head  on  the  block  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields. 
Like  his  ancestors  and  successors,  he  had  strong  sympathy  with 
the  great  cause  of  constitutional  freedom,  and  felt  deeply  the 
encroachments  of  the  King  on  the  liberties  of  Englishmen. 
That  he  took  counsel,  as  he  had  a  right  to  do,  with  like-minded 
patriots  in  the  endeavour  to  resist  these  encroachments  is 
certain.  Equally  certain  is  it  that,  though  he  was  unfortunate 
in  his  associates,  he  took  no  actual  part  in  that  attempt  on  the 
life  of  the  King,  for  which  ho  was  doomed  to  die.  Ilis  trial 
will  be  for  ever  memorable  as  an  instance  of  the  way  in  which 
the  forms  of  justice  may  be  used  against  the  spirit  of  justice, 
and  memorable  also  for  his  own  calmness  and  for  the  heroic 
devotion  of  Lady  Rachel,  his  wife — 

" That  Hwcot  Baint  who  hiiU!  by  IlusstH's  sido, 
Under  tho  jud^ient  Hout." 

Their   tender  dcvoliou  to  each  other  makes   the  pain  of  their 


334  JOUN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  xir. 

parting  the  night  before  his  execution  one  of  the  most  pathetic 
passages  in  our  history.  Lord  John  Russell  spoke  and  wrote 
some  memorable  things  in  his  time,  but  nothing  surely  more 
touching  than  the  sentence  in  which,  after  telling  us  that  Lady 
Rachel  bade  farewell  to  her  husband  just  before  midnight  in 
Newgate,  he  adds,  "  Thus  they  parted,  not  with  sobs  and  tears, 
but  with  a  composed  silence  ;  the  wife  wishing  to  spare  the 
feelings  of  the  husband,  and  the  husband  of  the  wife,  they  both 
restrained  the  expression  of  a  grief  too  great  to  be  relieved  by 
utterance."  * 

The  sorrow  felt  in  1684  over  Lord  Russell's  death  by  all  who 
loved  the  constitutional  liberties  of  England  cannot  have  been 
unfelt  by  the  great  Nonconformist  with  whom  we  are  mainly 
concerned.  That  Bunyan  and  Lord  William  were  personally 
and  even  intimately  acquainted  is  more  than  probable.  The 
latter,  as  the  representative  of  the  county  for  six  years  in  Par- 
liament, would  certainly  be  present  on  many  public  occasions  in 
the  town  of  Bedford  during  the  time  that  Bunyan  was  minister 
there,  and  as  a  statesman  who  had  always  striven  to  mitigate 
the  severities  of  Churchmen  against  Nonconformists,  he  would 
naturally  be  looked  up  to  by  the  great  Englishman  his  neigh- 
bour as  his  champion  and  friend.  His  death  was  more  than  a 
personal  loss,  it  was  the  signal  for  a  national  reaction  in  the 
direction  of  renewed  persecution.  When  men  like  Russell  and 
Sidney  were  bending  their  necks  to  the  block,  it  may  easily  be 
supposed  that  it  fared  not  well  with  lowlier  men.  It  was  not 
long  before  the  Nonconformists  of  Bedfordshire  were  made  to 
feel  the  fury  of  the  returning  storm.  The  instigators  of  this 
new  crusade  were  the  Earl  of  Ailesbury  and  his  son.  Lord 
Bruce,  whom  we  have  so  often  met  with  in  the  course  of  our 
story. t  Lord  Ailesbury  lived  at  Houghton  House,  near 
Ampthill,  the  house  whose  dismantled  ruins  now  overlook  the 
vale  of  Bedford.  He  was  Gustos  Rotulorum,  and  in  a  some- 
what arbitrary  manner  ordered  the   General   Sessions   of  the 

*  Life  of  Lord  Wm.  Evfssell,  p.  335. 

t  It  is  curious  to  note  that  Lady  Augusta  Stanley,  one  of  the  Bruces  of  Elgin, 
and  therefore  the  direct  representative  of  these  very  noblemen  who  persecuted 
Bunyan  and  his  people,  was  the  one  who  in  1874  unveiled  the  statue  to  Bunyan's 
memory  erected  by  the  Duke  of  Bedford. 


1685.]      MANSOUL  ANB  BEDFORD  CORBOBATION.       335 

Bedfordshire  magistrates  of  1684-5  to  be  held  at  Amptliill 
instead  of  at  Bedford  as  usual.  For  the  first  time  and  the  last 
this  was  done  on  the  14th  January'  in  that  year.  At  these  ses- 
sions, over  which  the  Earl  presided,  the  Court  resolved — 

"  That  aU  such  Laws  as  had  been  provided  for  the  reducing  all 
Dissenters  to  a  thorow  Conformity  shall  be  fortliwith  put  into  a 
speedy  and  vigorous  execution.  We  do,  therefore,  with  the  con- 
cuiTcnce  of  the  Eight  Rev.  Father  in  God  our  most  worthy,  learned, 
and  godly  Lord  Bishop,  desire  all  ministers  and  require  as  well  all 
constables  and  churchwardens,  truly  and  punctually  to  present,  both 
at  our  Quarter  Sessions  and  Monthly  Meetings,  all  such,  in  their 
respective  Parishes,  as  shall  absent  themselves  from  their  own 
Parish  Church ;  also  those  who  do  not  come  at  the  beginning  of 
Divine  Service,  kneeling  at  all  Praj^ers,  and  standing  up  at  the 
Glory,  at  the  Creed,  and  Hj-nins.  By  which  means  we  hope  in  time 
the  true  worship  of  God  will  be  thoroughly  understood  and  honestly 
practised  by  the  people  of  this  country,  to  God's  glory  and  our  own 
Peace  and  Comfort." 

This  order,  issued  by  the  magistrates,  was  printed  as  a  broad- 
side, surmounted  by  the  lioyal  arms,  and  beneath  the  order  was 
an  address  from  the  bishop  of  the  diocese — that  Bishop  Barlow 
who  has  obtained  some  reputation  by  his  exceedingly  mild 
interference  on  Banyan's  behalf.  This  address  of  the  bishop 
lays  it  down  that  seeing  it  is  a  certain  truth  that  subjects  are 
bound  to  obey  their  rulers,  and  since  there  is  such  an  excellent 
Liturgy  provided — 

"  The  Eojection  of  tliis  and  the  Disobedience  to  the  Laws  injoyn- 
ing  it  render  our  DixsenterH  evidently  Schismatical  in  their  separa- 
tion from  the  communion  of  our  Church.  And  seeing  that  our 
Dissenting  Brethren  will  not  conform  out  of  conscience  to  their  duty 
and  obedience  to  God  and  their  GoviTuours,  it  is  not  only  convenient 
but  necessary  that  our  good  Laws  be  put  in  execution  for  the  I'ro- 
servatiou  of  the  Public  Peace  and  Unity,  and  for  the  good  of  Dis- 
fi(;nter8  themselves ;  for  AJflictio  dat  IntcUedum  and  their  sufferings 
by  the  execution  of  our  Just  Laws  may  (by  God's  blessing)  bring 
them  to  a  sense  of  Duty  and  a  Desire  to  do  it.  For  the  attaining 
of  which  good  ends  I  require  all  tlio  Clergy  of  my  Diocese  witliiu 
the  County  of  Bedford  to  publish  this  Order  the  next  Sunday  after 
it  bo  tendered  to  them,  and  diligently  to  i)romoto  the  design  of  it."* 
*  AthmoUan  CoUeetion,  liodl.  ii  ,  23. 


336  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiv. 

This  order  tlius  sent  forth  on  the  cynical  plea  that  afflktio 
dat  intellectum,  or,  in  plain  English,  that  persecution  would 
bring  the  Nonconformists  to  their  senses — an  assumption  which 
is  contradicted  by  all  the  facts  of  history — was  read  far  beyond 
the  borders  of  Bedfordshire,  and  brought  forth,  a  letter  of  grave 
and  earnest  remonstrance  from  the  great  Nonconformist,  John 
Howe.  This  eminent  Englishmen,  conspicuous  alike  for 
eloquence  of  speech  and  elevation  of  mind,  said  to  Bishop 
Barlow : — 


<( 


As  I  must  confess  myself  surprised  by  your  late  published 
directions  to  your  clergy  of  the  County  of  Bedford,  so  nor  will 
I  dissemble  that  I  did  read  them  with  some  trouble  of  mind, 
which  I  sincerely  profess  was  more  upon  your  Lordship's  account 
than  my  own  (who  for  myself  am  Little  concerned)  or  any  other 
particular  person's  whatsoever I  humbly  offer  to  your  Lord- 
ship's further  consideration,  whether  it  be  not  a  supposable  thing 
that  some  persons  sound  in  the  faith,  strictly  orthodox  in  all 
the  articles  of  it  taught  by  our  Lord  Jesus  or  his  Apostles, 
resolvedly  loyal  and  subject  to  the  authority  of  their  governors  in 
Chm-ch  and  State,  of  pious,  sober,  peaceable,  just,  charitable  dis- 
positions and  deportments,  may  yet  have  a  formed,  fixed  judgment 
of  the  unlawfulness  of  some  or  other  of  the  rites  and  modes  of 
worship  enjoined  to  be  observed  in  this  Church?  Is  there  no 
difference  to  be  put  between  things  essential  to  our  religion  and 
things  confessed  mdifferent  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  judged 
unlawful,  on  both  hands  but  accidental?  (though  they  that  think  them 
unlawful  dare  not  allow  themselves  a  liberty  of  sinning  even  in 
accidentals). 

' '  My  Lord,  your  Lordship  well  knows  the  severity  of  some  of 
those  laws  which  you  press  for  the  execution  of,  is  such  as,  being 
executed,  they  must  infer  the  utter  ruin  of  them  who  observe  them 
not,  in  their  temporal  concernments ;  and  not  that  only,  but  their 
deprivation  of  the  comfortable  advantages  appointed  by  om'  blessed 
Lord,  for  promoting  their  spiritual  and  eternal  well-being.  I  cannot 
but  be  well-persuaded  not  only  of  the  mere  sincerity,  but  eminent 
sanctity  of  divers,  upon  my  own  knowledge  and  experience  of  them, 
who  would  sooner  die  at  a  stake  than  I  or  any  man  can  prevail 
with  them  to  kneel  before  the  consecrated  elements  at  the  Lord's 
table.  Woidd  your  Lordship  necessitate  such  perdere  suhstantiam 
fropter  accidentia  .^  What  if  there  be  considerable  numbers  of  such 
in  your  Lordship's  vastly  numerous  flock;  will  it  be  comfortable  to 


16S5.]     MAXSOUL  AND  BEDFORD  CORFORATIOX.       837 

you,  wbon  an  account  is  demanded  of  your  Lordsliip  by  the  great 
Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  Soids  concerning  tliem,  only  to  bo  able  to 
BE}',  '  Though,  Lord,  I  did  believe  the  provisions  of  thine  house 
purchased  for  them,  necessary  and  highly  useful  for  their  salvation, 
I  drove  them  away  as  dogs  and  swine  from  thy  table,  and  stirred 
up  such  other  agents  as  I  could  influence  against  them,  by  whose 
moans  I  reduced  many  of  them  to  beggary,  ruined  many  families, 
banished  them  into  strange  countries,  where  they  might  (for  me) 
serve  other  gods ;  and  this  not  for  disobeying  any  immediate 
ordinance  or  law  of  thine,  but  because  for  fear  of  offending  thee, 
they  did  not  in  everj'thing  comport  with  my  own  appointments,  or 
wlxich  I  was  directed  to  lu'ge  and  impose  upon  them  ? '  Who  art 
thou  that  judgest  thy  brother?  We  shall  all  stand  before  the  judg- 
ment seat  of  Christ.  What  if  they  have  appeared  conscientious  and 
of  a  very  unblameable  conversation  in  all  things  else  ?  What  if 
better  qualified  for  Christian  communion  in  all  other  respects  than 
thousands  you  admitted  ? 

"  But  we  must,  it  seems,  understand  all  this  rigour  your  Lordship 
shows  to  proceed  from  love,  and  that  you  are  for  destroying  the 
Dissenters  only  to  mend  their  understandings,  and  because  affiictio 
dot  hit  died  um.  I  hope,  indeed,  God  will  sanctify  the  affliction  which 
you  give  and  procure  them,  to  blessed  pui'poses ;  and  perhaps 
penissenf  nisi periissent :  but  for  the  purposes  your  Lordship  seems 
to  aim  at,  I  wonder  what  you  can  expect.  Can  you  by  undoing 
men  change  the  judgment  of  their  consciences?  Or  if  they  should 
tell  you.  We  do  indeed  in  our  consciences  judge  wo  shaU  greatly 
offend  God  by  complying  with  j'our  injunctions,  but  yet  to  save 
being  undone  we  will  do  it :  will  this  qualify  them  for  your  com- 
munion ?....!  pray  God  to  rectify  your  error  by  gentler  methods, 
and  by  less  affliction  than  you  have  designed  to  your  brethren  :  and 
do  not  for  all  this  doubt  (any  more  f(jr  your  ]iart  than  my  own)  to 
meet  you  there  one  day,  ic  he  re  Luther  and  Zuiuglius  are  well  ayrcidy  * 

What  eflcct  tliis  higli-niindcd  appeal  produced  upon  the 
Bisliop  there  is  notliing  to  show.  As  wo  shall  see  hereafter,  ho 
was  on  the  verge  of  anxious  days  for  liiinself,  when  he  would 
find  out  by  a  deeper  experience  the  truth  of  his  own  saying, 
tliat  trouble  opens  men's  eyes.  Meantime  at  this  point  it  may 
be  well  to  go  back  u  little  and  review  tlie  course  of  l^unyau's 
literary  activity  since  last  wo  met  with  anything  from  his  pen. 
l)uring  the  three  years  between  the  publication  of  tlio  "  Holy 

•  Ltlltr  to  I>r.  Barlow,  liiihop  of  Lincoln.     IIowu'm  Works,  iii.,  5/52  —  066. 


338  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiv. 

War,"  in  1682,  and  the  deatli  of  the  King  in  the  early  part  of 
1685,  he  sent  forth  a  poetical  broadside  and  five  books,  one  of 
these  being  the  second  part  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  which 
appeared  in  1684.  The  "  Barren  Fig-tree"  was  published  in 
1682,  the  "  Greatness  of  the  Soul "  and  "  A  Case  of  Conscience 
Eesolved"  in  1683,  while  "Seasonable  Counsels,"  "  A  Holy 
Life  the  Beauty  of  Christianity,"  and  "A  Caution  to  Watch 
against  Sin  "  came  out  along  with  the  story  of  Christiana  in 
1681. 

Of  the  first  of  these,  "  The  Barren  Fig-tree,  or  the  Doom  and 
Downfall  of  the  Fruitless  Professor,"  *  no  copy  of  the  first 
edition  is  known  to  exist.  The  earliest  we  have  is  a  reprint 
made  immediately  after  Bunyan's  death  in  1688,  by  J.  Pobin- 
son,  of  the  Golden  Lion,  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  and  having  a 
broad  black  border  round  the  title.  The  work  itself  is  an  ex- 
position of  our  Lord's  parable  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  St. 
Luke's  Gospel,  and  is  a  soul-searching  appeal  against  unreality 
in  the  religious  life.  There  is  in  it  the  plainest  of  plain  speak- 
ing, of  which  there  seems  to  have  been  then,  as  always,  an 
urgent  need.  There  were  some  in  the  Churches,  he  tells  us, 
asking  the  question.  Who  had  a  right  to  the  good  things  of 
this  life  if  Christians  had  not  ?  "  And  from  this  conclusion 
they  let  go  the  reins  of  their  inordinate  affections  after  pride, 
ambition,  gluttony  ;  pampering  themselves  without  fear,  daub- 
ing themselves  with  the  lust -provoking  fashions  of  the  times, 
walking  with  stretched-out  necks,  naked  breasts,  frizzled  fore- 
tops,  wanton  gestures,  in  gorgeous  apparel,  mixed  with  gold 
and  pearl  and  costly  array."  "  There  are  some  men  that  steal 
into  a  Christian  profession,  nobody  knows  how,  and  there  they 
abide,  lifeless,  graceless,  careless,  and  without  any  good  con- 
science to  God  at  all.  Perhaps  they  came  in  for  the  loaves,  for 
trade,  for  credit,  for  a  blind  ;  or  it  may  be  to  stifle  and  choke  the 
checks  and  grinding  pangs  of  an  awakened  and  disquieted  con- 
science." He  would  have  such  cumber- grounds  take  heed  of 
the  axes,  such  barren  fig-trees  beware  of  the  fire. 

This  book  was  followed  in  1683  by  the  one  on  "  The  Great- 

*  it  Ffigys-lren  Anffrwythlon :  Caerfyrddin,  1768.  12mo.  BetracMuny  iiher 
das  Gleichniss  vom  unfruchtbaren  Feigenbaum  von  Johannes  Bunyan,  weilaud 
Prediger  zu  Bedford  in  England.     Hamburg,  1870. 


16S3.]     MAXSOUL  AXD  BEDFORD  CORPORATIOX.       339 

ness  of  the  Soul  and  the  Unspeakableness  of  the  Loss  Tliereof,"* 
which  was  originally  a  sermon  preached  at  Pinners'  Hall  on 
one  of  hunyan's  visits  to  London,  and  afterwards  "  enlarged 
and  published  for  good,"  through  Benjamin  Alsop,  at  the 
Angel  and  Bible  in  the  Poultry.  In  this  the  preacher  shows 
what  the  soul  is  in  its  powers  and  properties,  what  its  greatness 
is,  what  it  is  to  lose  the  soul,  and  for  what  causes  men  do  this. 
The  text  (Mark  viii.  37)  comes  after  an  appeal  from  Christ  to 
count  the  cost  of  following  Him  :  "  For  following  of  me  is  not 
like  following  of  some  other  masters.  The  wind  sits  always  on 
my  face,  and  the  foaming  rage  of  the  sea  of  this  world,  and  the 
proud  and  lofty  waves  thereof  do  continually  beat  upon  the 
sides  of  the  bark  or  ship  that  myself,  my  cause,  and  my  fol- 
lowers are  in  ;  he  therefore  that  will  not  run  hazards,  and  that 
is  afraid  to  venture  a  drowning,  let  him  not  set  foot  into  this 
vessel."  Speaking  in  one  part  of  his  subject  of  the  loss  of  the 
soul,  he  touches  with  his  own  tender  pathos  upon  the  saving 
love  of  Christ :  "  Dost  thou  understand  me,  sinful  soul  ?  He 
wrestled  witli  justice  that  thou  mightest  have  rest;  lie  wept 
and  mourned  that  thou  mightest  laugh  and  rejoice ;  He  was 
betrayed  that  thou  mightest  go  free,  was  apprehended  that 
thou  mightest  be  justified,  and  was  killed  that  thou  mightest 
live ;  He  wore  a  crown  of  thorns  that  thou  mightest  wear  a 
crown  of  glory  ;  and  was  nailed  to  the  cross  with  His  arms  wide 
open,  to  show  with  what  freeness  all  His  merits  shall  be  be- 
stowed on  the  coming  soul,  and  how  heartily  he  will  receive  it 
into  His  bosom  I  "  Ahis,  tliat  it  should  be  true  !  as  true  it  is, 
that  they  are  the  few  that  care  for  the  things  tliat  are  greatest. 
It  is  a  wanton  age — "  an  age  wherein  the  thoughts  of  eternal 
life  and  the  salvation  of  the  soul  are  with  and  to  many  like 
the  Morocco  ambassador  and  his  men,  men  of  strange  faces,  in 
strange  habit,  with  strange  gestures  and  behaviours,  monsters 
to  behold." 

The  little  work  entitled  "  A  Case  of  Conscience  Resolved," t 

•  The  GrentveiK  of  the  Soul  and  iinupmikultloiicsH  of  the  Ixjhs  thereof;  with  tlio 
caudt'S  of  the  Losing  it.  First  I'rrfiichcd  iit  J'iiiiicrn'  Hall,  iiiid  now  oulurgod  uiid 
I'ubliHhod  tor  good.     London:   I'riiittMi  for  Itin.  AIhoji,  IG8:i. 

t  A  CoMC  of  Contcirnce  JleHotved :  viz.  Whether  where  u  Church  of  Cbrint  ia 
nituat'-,  it  iH  the  duty  of  the  Women  of  that  ('ongnj^ution.  Ordinarily  or  by 
A|ipointniciit,  to  njiuruto  theniMdveit  from  their  biethnni  uiid  bo  to  AnBenible 

7  2 


340  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiv. 

which  came  Into  the  same  year,  was  also  published  by  Benjamin 
Alsop,  and  was  called  forth  by  the  request  of  some  Christian 
women  in  London  for  Bunyan's  judgment  on  the  propriety  of 
their  meeting  separately  for  prayer,  and  "  without  their  men." 
Founding  his  opinion  on  what  the  apostle  says  about  women 
keeping  silence  in  the  churches,  he  gives  judgment  against  the 
practice,  expressing  the  fear  that  it  is  idleness  in  the  men  which 
is  the  cause  of  their  putting  their  good  women  upon  this  work, 
"  Surely  they  that  can  scarce  tie  their  shoes  and  their  garters 
before  they  arrive  at  the  tavern,  or  get  to  the  coffee-house  door 
in  a  morning,  can  scarce  spare  time  to  be  a  while  in  their 
closets  with  God !  Morning  closet-prayers  are  now  by  most 
London  professors  thrown  away,  and  what  kind  of  ones  they 
make  at  night  God  doth  know,  and  their  conscience,  when 
awake,  will  know.  However,  I  have' cause  as  to  this  to  look 
at  home.  And  God  mend  me  and  all  his  servants  about  it, 
and  wherein  we  else  are  out." 

The  following  year  Bunyan  again  appealed  to  Christian  men 
to  walk  worthy  of  their  calling,  in  "  A  Caution  to  stir  up  to 
watch  against  Sin,"*  which  appeared  in  the  form  of  a  half-sheet 
broadside,  dated  "  8  Aprill,  1684,"  and  which  Narcissus  Luttrell 
tells  us  he  bought  for  a  penny  on  that  same  day.  It  is  a  poem 
in  sixteen  stanzas,  each  stanza  closing  with  a  variation  of  a 
refrain  which  calls  upon  the  reader  to  keep  sin  out  of  door,  lest 
entrance  it  may  gain  and  never  leave  him  more.  To  the  same 
purpose  is  a  treatise  Bunyan  published  through  Benjamin  Alsop 
that  same  year,  founded  on  the  words,  "  Let  every  one  that 
nameth  the  name  of  Christ  depart  from  iniquity,"  and  entitled, 
"  A  Holy  Life  the  Beauty  of  Christianity." f  He  would  have 
men  take  religion  as  it  comes,  not  picking  and  choosing  the 
easy  things  and  leaving  those  in  which  there  is  real  cross- 
bearing.  "  For  example,  there  is  reading,  praying,  hearing  of 
sermons,  baptism,  breaking  of  bread,  church  fellowship,  preach- 

togelher  to  perform  some  parts  of  Divine  Worship,  as  Prayer,  &c.,  without  their 
men?     1683.     4to. 

*  Ji  Caution  to  stir  tip  to  Watch  affainst  Sin.  By  J.  Bunyan.  Broadside  on 
half  sheet  of  copy  paper  in  Luttrell  Collection ;  originally  in  the  Stowe  library. 

t  A  Hohj  Life  the  Beauty  of  Christianity  :  or  An  Exhortation  to  Christians  to 
be  Holy.  By  John  Bunyan.  London:  Printed  by  B.  W.  for  Ben  j.  Alsop,  at 
the  Angel  and  Bible  in  the  Poultry.     1684. 


1 6S4  ]      JIA  XS  0  UL  AXD  BEDFORD  C  ORP  OR  A  TION.       G4 1 

in?,  and  the  like ;  and  there  is  mortification  of  lusts,  charity, 
simplicity,  open-heurtedness,  with  a  liberal  hand  to  the  poor, 
and  their  like  also.  Now  the  unsound  faith  picks  and  chooses, 
and  takes  and  leaves,  but  the  true  faith  does  not  so."  He  has 
no  wish  to  be  austere,  "  but  were  wearing  of  gold,  putting  on 
of  apparel,  dressing  up  houses,  decking  of  children,  learning  of 
compliments,  boldness  in  women,  lechery  in  men,  wanton 
behaviour,  lascivious  words  and  tempting  carriages,  signs  of 
repentance,  then  I  must  say,  the  fruits  of  repentance  swarra 
in  our  land ;  but  if  these  be  none  of  the  fruits  of  repentance, 
then,  O,  the  multitude  of  professors  that  religiously  name  the 
name  of  Christ  and  do  not  depart  from  iniquity."  The  drift  of 
the  book  as  a  whole  is  to  show  what  it  is  to  depart  from  iniquity, 
why  it  is  that  some  who  name  the  name  of  Christ  do  not  depart 
from  it,  followed  by  arguments  proving  that  the}'^  should,  and 
ending  with  the  applications  and  uses  of  the  subject. 

The  only  other  book  which  Bun^^an  sent  out  in  1G84,  and 
which,  like  so  many  of  his  at  this  period,  was  published  by 
Benjamin  Alsop,  was  emphatically  a  book  for  the  times — those 
times  of  trial  and  persecution  through  which  the  Church  of 
God  was  still  passing.  It  is  entitled  "  Seasonable  Counsel ;  or. 
Advice  to  Sufferers,"*  and  is  worthy  of  note,  first,  as  contain- 
ing several  sentences  almost  identical  with  some  found  in  the 
letters  to  the  persecuted  entered  in  the  "  Church  Book,"  show- 
ing the  same  hand  in  both,  and  next  as  being  a  sort  of  manifesto 
of  Bunyan's  loyalty  to  the  Government  in  spite  of  the  sufferings 
he  had  endured  at  their  hands.  The  magistrate,  he  says,  is 
God's  ordinance,  and  for  conscience  sake  we  must  obey  him. 
If  there  be  no  conscience,  there  is  no  real  obedience  :  "  I  speak 
not  these  things  as  knowing  any  that  are  disaffected  to  the 
Government ;  for  I  love  to  bo  alone,  if  not  with  godly  men,  in 
tilings  that  are  convenient.  But  because  I  appear  tlius  in 
puljlic,  and  know  not  into  whoso  hands  tlieso  lines  may  come, 
therefore  thus  I  write.  I  sjieak  it  also  to  show  my  loyally  to 
the  king,  and  my  hive  to  my  fellow-subjects  and  my  desire 
that  all  Cliristians  should  walk  in  ways  of  ])eac(!  and  truth  " 
Elsewhere,  also,    in   words  that  show   tlu;    wondei-l'ul  chihllikc? 

•  .Sc'i^ijiiiihU  CouiiKrl ;  or,  Adiiif  til  ■^■ij/inri.      By  Jo;in    iliiiiyaii.      Loauun : 
PiiiiU.-U  for  Ikiijiimiu  Alttop,  MDCLXxxiv. 


342  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xiv. 

simplicity  of  the  man,  he  says,  "  For  my  part  I  have  ofttimes 
stood  amazed  both  at  the  mere}'  of  God  and  the  favour  of  the 
Prince  towards  us,  and  can  give  thanks  to  God  for  both  ;  and 
do  make  it  my  prayer  to  God  for  the  King,  and  that  God  will 
help  me  with  meekness  and  patience  to  bear  whatever  shall 
befall  me  for  my  professed  subjection  to  Christ  by  men." 

There  is  a  fore-word  to  the  Christian  reader  in  the  book, 
telling  him  that  since  many  at  that  day  are  exposed  to  suffer- 
ings he  gives  this  word  that  they  may  take  heed  to  themselves, 
and  that  they  that  suflfer  may  commit  their  souls  to  God  as 
unto  a  faithful  Creator.  We  have  need,  says  he,  of  these  bitter 
pills  at  which  we  so  wince  and  shuck,  and  we  are  but  little 
better  as  yet,  though  the  physician  has  had  us  so  long  in  hand. 
These  times  that  try  us  help  us  to  find  out  what  we  are,  rightly 
to  rectify  our  judgment  about  ourselves,  make  us  know  our- 
selves, tend  to  cut  off  the  superfluous  sprigs  of  pride  and  self- 
conceit  so  apt  to  shoot  out.  Does  the  day  that  bends  us, 
humbles  us,  and  makes  us  bow  before  God,  do  us  no  good  ?  We 
could  not  live  without  such  turnings  of  the  hand  of  God  upon 
us.  We  should  be  overgrown  with  flesh  if  we  had  not  our 
seasonable  winters.  Remember  that  in  trial  God  hath  one 
purpose  and  Satan  quite  another.  It  is  the  soul  that  Satan  is 
aiming  at,  the  ruin  of  that  he  hath  bent  himself  to  bring  to  pass. 
"  'Ware  hawk,"  saith  the  falconer,  when  the  dogs  are  near  her. 
But  our  safety  is  in  God  ;  commit  the  keeping  of  your  souls 
unto  him.  Satan  can  make  a  jail  look  as  black  as  hell,  and 
the  loss  of  a  few  stools  and  chairs  as  bad  as  the  loss  of  so  many 
bags  of  gold.  But  God  can  make  fear  flee  away  and  place 
heavenly  confidence  in  its  room.  He  can  bring  invisible  and 
eternal  things  to  the  eye  of  thy  soul  and  make  thee  see  that  in 
those  things  in  which  thine  enemies  shall  see  nothing,  that 
thou  shall  count  worth  a  thousand  lives  to  enjoy.  He  can  pull 
such  things  out  of  his  bosom  and  can  put  such  things  into  thy 
mouth  ;  can  make  thee  choose  rather  to  be  gone  even  though 
through  the  flames  than  to  stay  and  die  even  in  silken  sheets. 
He  can  make  things  fearful  and  terrible  to  become  things 
delightful  and  desirable.  He  can  make  a  jail  more  beautiful 
than  a  palace,  restraint  more  sweet  by  far  than  liberty.  The 
three  in  Babylon  saw  one  like  the  Son  of  God  walking  with 


16S4.1     MAXSOVZ  AXD  BEDFORD  CORPORATIOX.       343 

them  in  the  fire,  and  Daniel  the  hands  of  the  angels  that  were 
made  muzzles  for  the  mouths  of  the  lions.  Was  it  not  worth 
beinff  in  the  furnace  and  in  the  den  to  see  such  thinji:s  as 
these  ? 

Thus,  then,  there  was  light  from  the  throne  of  God,  water 
from  the  eternal  fountains,  help  from  the  everlasting  hills  for 
Bunyan  and  his  brethren  in  the  kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus 
Christ.      They  had   sore  need  of  it  all  in    1()8-1,   when  this 
"Seasonable  Counsel"  saw  the  light,  for,  through  the  pelting 
of  pitiless  storm  they  were  still  urging  their  way  to  the  city  of 
God.      As  the  Church  records  show,  they  were  able  to  hold 
scarcely  any  meetings  of  the  Church  between  the  August  of 
that  year  and  the  month  of  December,  1686.     As  in  1670, 
some  of  them  were  driven  from  their  homes,  ruined  by  fines,  or 
shut  up  in  jail.     And  in  these  stern  experiences  they  were  not 
alone.      In  some  places  matters  proceeded  to  such  extremity 
that  at  last  humane  magistrates  refused  to  grant  any  more  con- 
victions, resorting  on  the  bench  to  all  sorts  of  evasions  of  the 
law  for  the  purpose  of  saving  men  who  were  too  resolute  to 
save  themselves.     This  leniency,  however,  was,  of  course,  only 
partial.      In  the  parish    of  Hackney   fifty  distress  warrants, 
amounting  to  £1,400,  were  issued  in  one  month  ;  and  two  hun- 
dred in  the  town  of  Uxbridge.*     In    Southwark,    Nathaniel 
Vincent  was  dragged  from  his  pulpit  by  the  hair  of  his  head, 
while  in  the  city  of  London,   John  Wesley's  grandfather.  Dr. 
Annesley,  had  his  house  broken  into,  his  meeting-place  forced 
and  its  tittings  destroyed.      The  Quakers  were,  however,  in  this 
year,  as  in  previous  years,  the  most  numerous  and  the  most 
serious  sufferers,  and   the  special  mark  of  the  worst  forms  of 
the  rowdyism  of  the  time.     At  Leicester,  for  example,  wo  find 
the   soldiers  quartered  in  the  town  sending  a  black  drummer 
into  the  (iuaker's  meeting,  to  mimic  the  worshi])pcrR,  wliile  the 
captain  and  his  comi)any  bnjught  in  ale  and  tobacco,  and  j)r()- 
ceeded  to  smoke  and  drink  and  insult  the  women  who  were 
gathered  with  them.f     Elsewhere  also  wo  find  their  meetings 
broken   in   upon   by  noisy  revellers  with  drum  and  fiddle,  and 
their  wives  and  daughters  stripped  of  scarf  and  hood  in  rude 

•  Life  of  lAird  Wm.  Ruuell,  by  Lord  John  limuwU,  p.  206. 
t  ltog<r  Morrico — MH.  Enlerxng  Book. 


;M4  JOKN  BVNYAN.  [chap.  XIV. 

derision,  while  seven  hundred  Friends  were  that  year  reported 
to  be  shut  up  in  gaol. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  lawlessness  came  the  shadow  of  death 
among  the  persecutors  themselves.  On  the  14th  of  January, 
1685,  the  Earl  of  Ailesbury  presided  at  the  Ampthill  meeting 
of  the  Bedfordshire  justices,  from  which  went  forth  that  order 
against  the  Nonconformists  of  the  county  which  John  Howe 
branded  as  unreasonable  and  unchristian.  Within  three  weeks 
of  that  day  Lord  Ailesbury's  son,  Thomas,  Lord  Bruce,  was 
standing  with  other  men  of  rank  in  the  royal  bedchamber,  when 
the  King  gave  a  sharp  cry,  staggered,  and  fell  into  his  arms 
insensible  and  stricken  for  death.*  The  end  of  his  ignoble 
reign  had  come,  and  before  the  next  Sunday  he  had  been 
received  into  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  had  gone  up  to 
his  great  account.  Within  that  same  year  also  the  Earl  of 
Ailesbury  himself  had  finished  his  life-work,  and  had  vanished 
from  court-house  and  council-chamber  to  the  regions  of  the 
dead.  So  suddenly  do  things  turn  round  in  this  strange  world 
of  ours,  and  so  unexpectedly  was  constitutional  liberty  saved  at 
the  very  moment  when  despotism  seemed  to  be  most  sure  of 
its  victory. 

*  Ld.  Ailesbury's  letter,  Gent.  Mag.,  April,  1795. 


XV. 

IN  THE  REIGN  OF  JAMES  TEE  SECOND. 

On  Friday,  February  6th,  I680,  Charles  the  Second  passed 
away,  and  the  same  day  liis  successor,  as  James  the  Second,  met 
his  first  Privy  Council.  The  advent  of  the  new  king  saved  the 
liberties  of  the  country,  but  more  through  persistent  blunder- 
iue:  than  deliberate  intention.  Tie  had  even  less  love  for 
constitutional  government  and  religious  freedom  than  his 
easy-going  brother  ;  but  these  principles  were  in  less  danger 
now  than  before,  for  the  simple  reason  that  he  was  more  daring 
in  his  attempt  to  subvert  them.  Happily  for  the  liberties  of 
England,  the  new  monarch  was  one  of  those  narrow,  obstinate 
men  who,  when  they  happen  to  take  up  an  evil  cause,  bring  it 
to  ruin  by  the  very  precipitancy  of  their  haste  to  serve  it.  More 
than  anvthins:  else  in  life  James  II.  desired  to  see  the  rc-estab- 
lislimont  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  in  England,  and, 
unfortunately  for  him,  that  which  was  nearest  to  his  own  heart 
was  the  one  thing  farthest  from  the  hearts  of  his  people.  Here 
was  the  beginning  of  that  division  between  the  King  and  the 
country  which  was  to  end  in  catastrophe  for  the  one  and  deliver- 
ance for  the  other.  Tlu;  King  soon  showed  the  haste  he  was  in. 
As  Duke  of  York  he  had  hitherto  heard  mass  with  closed  doors ; 
now  the  doors  were  thrown  open.  During  Lent  the  palace 
sermons  were  preaclunl  by  rojjisli  diviiu's,  and  when  it  was 
over,  Easter  was  celebrated  witli  unusual  splendour.  Easter 
was  followcfl  by  the  coronation,  from  the  ceremonies  of  which 
there  was  the  marked  absence  of  the  Communion  Service  and 
of  the  customary  presentation  to  tlie  monarch  ot"  an  English 
Bible.  People  generally  understood  the  meaning  of  the  omis- 
sion, and  tlie  situation  was  expressed  with  (iuaker-like  direct- 
ness  by  that  follower  of  George  lA»x  wlio  said   td   llic    ICing, 


346  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xv. 

"  We  are  told  that  thou  art  no  more  of  the  persuasion  of  the 
Church  of  England  than  we  are  ;  we  hope,  therefore,  thou  wilt 
grant  us  the  same  liberty  which  thou  allowest  thyself." 

But  the  fierceness  of  the  struggle  was  not  yet,  and  meantime 
the  gaiety  of  the  coronation  was  followed  by  the  excitement  of 
a  general  election.  This  came  at  a  time  when  the  Court  party 
and  the  Tory  feeling  were  supreme.  The  counties  were  for 
the  most  part  safe,  and  the  majority  of  the  boroughs  having 
surrendered  their  charters  and  suffered  their  corporations  to  be 
manipulated,  were  sure  to  return  such  men  as  the  King  could 
rely  upon.  The  town  of  Bedford,  the  neighbouring  squires 
having  been  brought  into  the  burgess-lists  in  troops,  returned 
Sir  Anthony  Chester,  the  son  of  that  Justice  Chester  who  had 
borne  hard  upon  Bunyan's  wife  in  the  Swan  chamber,  and 
Thomas  Christie,  the  local  lawyer  who,  with  Paul  Cobb,  had  been 
actively  concerned  in  the  surrender  of  the  Town  Charter.  In 
the  county,  the  Whig  party,  who  had  been  represented  in  the 
last  Parliament  by  Lord  William  Russell,  made  a  desperate 
fight,  and  carried  the  show  of  hands  on  the  nomination  day, 
but  were  defeated  at  the  poll,  the  election  being  in  favour  of 
Sir  Villiers  Chernocke  of  Hulcote,  and  William  Butler  of 
Biddenham. 

The  result  the  country  through  was  as  the  King  would 
have  it.  With  considerable  satisfaction  he  observed  that, 
with  the  exception  of  about  forty  members,  it  was  just 
such  a  House  as  he  would  have  nominated  himself.  The  Par- 
liament of  Scotland  had  met  already,  and  was  also  entirely 
subservient,  passing  at  the  King's  request  a  statute  framed  by 
his  own  minister,  and  enacting  that  whoever  should  preach  in 
a  conventicle  under  a  roof,  or  attend  as  preacher  or  hearer  a 
conventicle  in  the  open  air,  should  suffer  confiscation  of  pro- 
perty and  death.  The  Covenanting  shires  of  Scotland  were  in 
consequence  handed  over  to  the  cruelties  of  Graham  of  Claver- 
house,  and  to  the  licence  of  his  army.  It  was  hoped  that  the 
Parliament  of  England,  when  it  met  on  the  19th  of  May,  would 
follow  the  example  set  by  that  of  Scotland.  Of  the  five  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  members,  three  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
were  new  to  the  House,  and  the  Whig  party,  which  before  had 
been  in  a  majority,  was  now  reduced  to  a  minority  no  greater 


I 


1685.]       IN  TEE  EEIGX  OF  JAMES  THE  SECOXD.        347 

thau  u  fifteenth  part  of  the  whole,  luit  even  though  thus  consti- 
tuted, this  Parliament  was  not  obsequious  after  the  manner  of 
that  in  the  north,  but  was  resolute  in  maintaining;  the  Test  Act 
and  keeping  Roman  Catholics  out  of  office.  Shortl}'  after  the 
Session  commenced,  the  House  of  Commons  resolved  itself  into 
a  Grand  Committee  of  Religion,  and  in  that  committee  passed 
two  resolutions,  one  expressing  fervent  attacliment  to  the 
Church  of  England,  and  the  other  calling  upon  the  King  to 
publish  a  proclamation  for  putting  into  execution  the  laws 
against  all  dissenters  whatsoever  from  the  Church  of  En<;land. 
The  King  very  naturally  was  intensely  mortified.  He  had  no 
objection  to  harass  the  Nonconformists,  but  this  resolution 
called  upon  him,  a  Roman  Catholic  himself,  to  persecute  to  the 
death  the  teachers  of  his  own  faith  and  the  adherents  of  his 
own  Church,  Parliament  soon  discovered  its  mistake,  and 
hastened  to  retrace  its  steps,  reversing  in  the  House  the  decision 
adopted  in  committee,  and  throwing  themselves  on  the  promise 
the  King  had  given  at  the  first  meeting  cf  his  Privy  Council, 
to  protect  the  religion  established  by  law. 

The  course  of  events  was  powerfully  influenced  at  tliis  point 
by  the  insurrection  in  Scotland  under  the  Earl  of  Argyle,  and 
that  in  the  west  of  England  for  the  purpose  of  placing  on  the 
throne  the  Duke  of  ^lonmouth,  a  natural  son  of  Charles  II. 
The  Duke  was  at  that  time  living  away  from  his  wife  and 
family  in  Brussels,  and  in  unhallowed  relations  with  Henrietta, 
the  daughter  of  Lord  Wenlworth  of  Toddington,  in  Bedford- 
shire. Passionately  attached  to  each  other,  and  with  that  easy 
logic  which  passion  employs,  they  persuaded  themselves  that 
they  were  man  and  wife  in  the  sight  of  heaven.  But  Lady 
AVentworth  was  ambitious,  and  had  complete  ascendancy  over 
Monmouth.  For  him  slio  had  sacrificed  her  honour  and  all 
the  nobler  prospects  of  woman's  life  ;  and  wlien  she  joined  the 
restless  exiles  around  liiui  in  urging  him  to  make  a  descent 
upon  England  and  claim  tlie  crown  for  himself,  lie  had  not  the 
firmness  to  resist  these  counsels  of  ruin.  The  result  of  that 
ill-starred  expedition,  followed  as  it  was  by  the  Bloody  Assize 
in  the  West  and  Monnxjuth's  execution  on  Towrr  Hill,  belongs 
rather  to  the  general  course  of  our  history  than  to  tlu!  local 
nurrutivo  which   interests  us  now.     Tho  two,  however,   toucli 


348  JOEN  B  VNYAN.  [chap.  xv. 

each  otber  for  a  rooment  when  the  historian,  after  describing 
Monmouth's  execution  and  his  burial  in  the  Tower,  completes 
the  narrative  thus  : — 

"Yet  a  few  months,  and  the  quiet  village  of  Toddington  in  Bed- 
fordshire witnessed  a  still  sadder  funeral.  Near  that  village  stood 
an  ancient  and  stately  hall,  the  seat  of  the  Wentworths.  The 
transept  of  the  parish  church  had  long  been  their  burial  place.  To 
that  burial  place,  in  the  spring  which  followed  the  death  of  Mon- 
mouth, was  borne  the  coffin  of  the  young  Baroness  Wentworth,  of 
Nettlestede.  Her  family  reared  a  sumptuous  mausoleum  over  her 
remains ;  but  a  less  costly  memorial  of  her  was  long  contemplated 
with  far  deeper  interest.  Her  name,  carved  by  the  hand  of  him 
whom  she  loved  too  well,  was,  a  few  years  ago,  still  discernible  on 
a  tree  in  the  adjoining  park."  * 

The  autumn  which  followed  Monmouth's  failure  and  death 
will  be  ever  memorable  in  the  annals  of  England  as  the  time 
of  the  reign  of  terror  under  Colonel  Kirke  and  his  lambs,  and 
still  more  under  Judge  Jeffreys  and  his  Bloody  Assize  in  the 
West.  As  the  news  slowly  travelled  from  shire  to  shire  of  the 
military  butchery  and  judicial  murders  going  on  day  after  day 
on  English  soil,  a  shudder  of  horror  passed  over  the  land,  which 
seems  to  prolong  itself  from  one  generation  to  another.  The 
cruelty  and  lawlessness  by  which  a  king,  who  never  seems  to 
have  known  human  pity,  put  down  a  foolish  rebellion,  still  ran 
their  course  long  after  rebellion  was  no  more.  Spent  in  one 
form,  they  next  took  the  shape  of  such  a  crusade  against 
religious  liberty  as  not  even  that  century  had  known  till  then. 
It  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  not  even  in  the  worst  days  of 
Laud  had  the  condition  of  those  who  separated  fi'om  the  Church 
of  England  been  so  sorrowful  as  towards  the  end  of  1685.  John 
Howe  left  the  country  because  he  could  not  walk  the  streets  of 
London  without  insult.  Richard  Baxter,  though  an  old  man 
now,  was  shut  up  in  gaol,  where  he  remained  for  two  years  more, 
and  where  he  had  innumerable  companions  in  distress.  For 
fresh  prisoners  were  continually  being  added  to  the  hundreds 
already  deprived  of  their  liberty.  With  renewed  diligence  in 
street  and  lane,  in  field  and  wood,  spies  and  informers  plied 
their  odious  trade.  Magistrates  and  commissaries,  clergy  and 
*  Macaulay's  Jlist.  of  England,  i.,  G24. 


IGSJ.J      AT  THE  REIGN  OF  JAMES  THE  SECOND         349 

churchwardens,  were  once  more  on  the  alert.  The  Ecclesias- 
tical Courts  were  all  day  long  fining  and  excommunicating 
those  who  refused  attendance  at  church  or  frequented  conven- 
ticles elsewhere.  The  story  of  meetings  broken  in  upon  and 
worshippers  hurried  to  prison  became  stale  by  repetition. 
The  separatists  changed  the  place  of  gathering  from  time  to 
time,  set  their  sentinels  on  the  watch,  left  olf  singing  hymns 
in  their  services,  and  for  the  sake  of  greater  security  wor- 
shipped again  and  again  at  the  dead  of  night.  Ministers  were 
introduced  to  their  pulpits  through  trap-doors  in  floor  or  ceiling, 
or  through  doorways  extemporised  in  walls,  or  came  by  quiet 
paths  in  gardens  and  back-yards.  The  poor  sufiered  in  their 
persons  and  the  rich  in  their  purse.  At  Stoke  Newington,  dis- 
tresses were  levied  for  conventicles  upon  such  men  as  Sir  John 
Ilartop,  Mr.  Fleetwood,  and  others  of  their  neighbours  to  the 
extent  of  £7,000. 

In  some  cases  the  conventiclers,  goaded  to  desperation, 
stood  at  bay,  and  fought  like  Englishmen.  At  a  prayer- 
meeting  held  in  a  gravel-pit,  a  company  of  worshippers 
rescued  their  minister,  and  put  to  rout  the  magistrate  and  con- 
stables who  had  come  to  arrest  him.  That  autumn-time  saw 
the  fiercest  but  happily  the  last  of  the  long  series  of  persecu- 
tions under  the  Stuart  kings.  It  has  been  compared  to  the 
last  sufiered  by  the  early  Christians  under  Diocletian — the  last 
and  fiercest  on  the  part  of  the  persecutors,  the  last  and  noblest 
on  the  part  of  the  suftcrcrs.  It  is  unfortunatel}'-  but  too  true 
that  indulgence  in  cruelty  makes  men  more  relentlessly  cruel. 
Happily,  on  the  other  hand,  the  darkest  things  become  the  foil 
of  things  that  are  noblest,  bring  out  patient  endurance,  bravo 
resistance,  and  firm  fidelity  to  conscience.  The  harassed  Non- 
conformists of  those  days  still  maintained  among  themselves  the 
faithful  and  awakening  preaching  of  Christ's  evangel ;  they  still 
kept  up  that  godly  family  life,  that  severe  morality,  whicli  pre- 
served them  from  the  foul  corruptions  of  the  time;  and  still, 
through  uU  outrage  and  suffuriug,  the  more  they  were  trampled 
on  the  more  they  grew.  It  wiis  the  last  systematic  nligious 
persecution  under  the  forms  of  law  wo  have  known  in  England, 
and  from  the  point  of  view  even  of  the  persecutors  themselves, 
like  uU  that  went  beforo  it,  it  proved  a  failure. 


350  JOHN  BJJNYAN.  [chap.  xy. 

Bunyan's  state  of  mind  during  these  days  of  trial  is  pretty 
clearly  revealed  to  us  by  a  document  whicli  fortunately  has 
come  down  to  us  in  his  own  handwriting.  It  is  sometimes 
popularly  spoken  of  as  his  will,  but  is  really  a  deed  of  gift,  by 
virtue  of  which  he  conveys  all  his  worldly  wealth  to  his  "  well- 
beloved  wife,  Elizabeth  Bunyan."  The  reason  of  this  unusual 
step  is  obvious  enough.  In  the  then  state  of  public  feeling  he 
might  any  day  be  "  had  home  to  prison  "  again,  his  property 
confiscated,  and  his  family  thrown  homeless  upon  the  world.  To 
protect  them  even  if  he  should  be  deprived  of  his  liberty,  he 
made  over  everything  in  legal  form  to  his  wife.  It  is  curious 
to  note  that  either  through  skilled  intention  or,  what  is  more 
probable,  from  innocent  oversight,  his  household  goods,  though 
conveyed  by  deed  to  his  wife,  really  remained  under  his  own 
trusteeship.  For  as  he  failed  to  appoint  another  trustee,  and 
the  law  provides  that  no  trust  shall  fail  for  lack  of  a  trustee,  he 
as  the  husband  of  Elizabeth  Bunyan  occupied  that  position  on 
her  behalf. 

The  deed,  a  fac-simile  of  which  we  give,  is  written  on  one 
side  of  a  folio  page  of  strong  and  enduring  laid  paper,  and  is 
as  follows  : — 

"To  all  people  to  whom  this  present  writing  shall  com,  I,  John 
Bunyan,  of  the  parish  of  St.  Cuthbirts,  in  the  towne  of  Bedford, 
in  the  county  of  Bedford,  Brazier,  send  greeting.  Know  ye  that  I, 
the  said  John  Bunyan,  as  well  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  natural 
affection  and  love  which  I  have  and  bear  into  my  well-beloved  wife, 
Elizabeth  Bunyan,  as  also  for  divers  other  good  causes  and  con- 
siderations me  at  this  present  especially  nioueing,  have  given  and 
granted,  and  by  these  presents  do  give,  grant  and  conf  erm  into  the 
said  EHzabeth  Bunyan,  my  said  wife,  all  and  singuler  my  goods 
chattels,  debts,  ready  mony,  plate,  Eings,  household  stuff e,  Aparrel, 
utensills.  Brass,  pewter,  Beding,  and  all  other  my  substance  whatso- 
ever moueable  and  immoueable  of  what  kinde,  nature,  quality,  or 
condition  soever  the  same  arre  or  be,  and  in  what  place  or  places 
soever  the  same  be,  shaU.  or  may  be  found  as  well  in  mine  own 
custodes  possession  as  in  the  possession  hands  power  and  custod}' 
of  any  other  person  or  persons  whatsoever,  To  have  and  to  hold  all 
and  singular  the  said  goods,  chattels,  debts,  and  all  other  the  afore- 
said premises  unto  the  said  Elizabeth,  my  wife,  her  executors 
admiuiistrators  and  assigns  to  her  and  their  proper  uses  and  behoofs 


16S5.]       IX  TBE  liEIGX  OF  JAJfFS  THE  SECOXI).         351 

freely  and  quietly  vritlioiit  any  matter  of  challingo,  claime,  or 
demand  of  me,  the  said  Jolin  Bun^'au,  or  of  any  other  person  or 
persons  Yrhatsoever  for  me,  in  my  name  by  my  means  cans  or  pro- 
curement and  without  any  mony  or  other  thing  therefore  to  be 
yoeildod  paid  or  done  unto  me,  the  said  John  Buuyan,  my  executors, 
administrators  or  assigns. 

"  And  I,  the  said  John  Bunj'an,  all  and  singular  the  aforesaid 
goods,  chattels,  and  premises  to  the  said  Elizabeth,  my  wife,  her 
executors,  administrators,  and  asignes,  to  the  use  aforesaid  against 
all  people  do  warrant  and  for  ever  defend  by  those  presents.  And 
further  know  ye  that  I,  the  said  John  Bunyau,  haue  put  the  said 
Elizabeth,  my  wife,  in  peaceable  and  quiet  possession  of  all  and 
singuler  the  aforesaid  premises,  by  the  deliurye  unto  her  at  the 
ensealing  hereof  one  coyned  peece  of  silver  commonly  called  two 
pence,  fixed  on  the  seall  of  these  presents. 

"In  "W'ittnes  whereof  I,  the  said  John  Bunyan,  have  hereunto 
set  my  hand  and  seall  this  23d  day  of  December,  in  the  fii'st  year 
of  the  reigne  of  our  souraigne  lord  King  James  the  Second  of 
England,  &c.,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  1685. 

"  Sealed  and  delivered  in  the  presence  of  us  whos  names  are  here 

under  wi-itten.  .<  j^^^^  Buxyan  (l.s.)  " 

"JoHX  BAEDOLrn.  V      ^ 

"Nicholas  Malin. 
"William  Hawkes. 
"Lewes  Nor2i.<vn. 


As  the  deed  itself  indicates,  there  was  affixed  to  the  seal  a 
silver  twopenny-piece  of  the  period,  which  has  disappeared,  while 
much  of  the  wax  remains.  The  document  was  attested  by  four 
members  of  the  Church  under  Bunyan's  care:  Jolni  IJardolph  the 
inalt.ster,  whose  nialthouse  was  besieged  by  Battison  the  church- 
warden, in  KiTU  ;  Nicliolas  Malin  of  Gamlingay ;  William 
Hawkes,  a  deacon  of  the  Church,  and  the  son-in-law  of  John 
Gilford  ;  and  Lewes  Norman.  After  being  duly  attested,  it  was 
hidden  away  in  a  recess  of  the  house  in  St.  Cuthbert's,  wliero 
he  had  lived  since  his  release  in  \(')7'2,  and  where  liis  family 
had  probably  lived  even  earlier  Ktill.  It  wms  hidden  away  with 
such  perfect  safety  that  even  Mli/abelh  Bunyan  herself  seems 
in  after  years  not  to  have  known  wiiero  it  was.  For,  as  wo 
shall  Hce  hereafter,  on  the  death  of  her  husband  hlio  administered 
to  his  estate  at  the  Archdeacon'M  Court  as  that  oi"  an  intestate 


352  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xv. 

person  ;  and  the  deed  itself  seems  not  to  liave  come  to  light  till 
the  present  century  when  it  was  found  in  a  recess  of  the  house 
and  became  the  property  of  the  late  George  Livius,  Esq.,  by 
whose  widow  it  was  afterwards  bequeathed  to  the  Bunyan 
Meeting  Trustees. 

From  this  document  it  will  be  seen  that,  without  any  pre- 
tension and  with  the  utmost  simplicity,  he  still  calls  himself 
John  Bunyan,  brazier.  This  opens  up  the  question  as  to 
whether  he  did  or  did  not  still  follow  at  times  the  brazier's 
calling  side  by  side  with  that  of  his  ministry.  The  writer  often 
quoted  by  us  says  that  Bunyan  "  contenting  himself  with  that 
little  God  had  bestowed  upon  him,  sequestered  himself  from  all 
secular  employments  to  follow  that  of  his  call  to  the  ministry." 
Yet,  as  we  see  thirteen  years  later,  he  still  describes  himself  as 
a  brazier.  In  troublous  times  there  may  have  been  necessity 
for  this  calling.  His  people  were  for  the  most  part  poor  ;  there 
was  not,  as  in  the  case  of  John  Gifford  and  John  Burton,  the 
endowment  of  St.  John's  church  to  fall  back  upon ;  and  it  may 
be  that  John  Bunyan,  like  a  still  greater  apostle  before  him, 
sometimes  laboured,  working  with  his  hands  the  thing  that 
was  needed.  Yet  such  employment,  if  followed  at  all,  could 
only  have  been  occasional.  The  work  of  his  brain,  through 
tongue  and  pen,  was  too  incessant  to  leave  much  time  for  the 
brazier's  craft.  Besides  the  nine  books  he  published  between 
1685  and  his  death  in  1688,  he  left  sixteen  unprinted  manu- 
scripts behind  him,  and  though  two  of  these  were  only  meant 
for  single-sheet  broadsides,  one  was  that  of  a  somewhat  lengthy 
commentary  on  the  first  ten  chapters  of  Genesis,  and  another 
that  of  a  pocket  concordance,  which  must  have  taken  some  time 
to  prepare. 

The  works  he  sent  forth  in  1685  were  a  discussion  on  "  The 
Perpetuity  of  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath,"*  and  a  discourse  on  the 
parable  of  "  The  Pharisee  and  Publican,"  The  seventh-day 
Sabbath  question  is  one  of  very  feeble  interest  to  anybody  living 
now.  But  among  the  innumerable  fancies  of  that  period  fertile 
in  crotchets,  was  one  for  keeping  the  Jewish  Sabbath  as  the  day 

*  Questions  about  the  Nature  and  Perpetuity  of  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath.  And 
Proof  that  the  First  Day  of  the  Week  is  the  True  Christian  Sabbath.  By  John 
Bunyan.     London  :  Printed  for  Nath.  Ponder,  1685. 


1G85.]        IX  THE  REIGX  OF  JAMES  THE  SECOND.        353 

of  worship  and  rest.  A  clcr<rynian  of  some  erninonce  tried  to 
gather  his  congregation  on  Saturdays;  and  three  phices  of  wor- 
ship endowed  for  the  support  of  this  opinion  were  continued 
down  to  our  own  times,  the  worshippers  being  known  ao  Seventh- 
day  Baptists.  Bunyan  tells  us  he  was  reluctant  to  enter  upon 
a  question  of  such  trifling  moment,  but  he  was  sorry  to  see  the 
fictions  and  factions  that  were  growing  among  Christian  men, 
each  fiction  turning  itself  to  a  faction,  to  the  loss  of  that  good 
spirit  of  love  and  that  oneness  that  formerly  was  with  good 
men.  For  his  part,  he  cannot  accept  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  nor 
turn  from  the  day  on  which  his  Lord  rose  from  the  dead.  lie 
cannot  believe  "  that  any  part  of  our  religion,  as  we  are  Chris- 
tians, stands  in  not  kindling  of  fires,  and  not  seething  of  vic- 
tuals, or  in  binding  of  men  not  to  stir  out  of  their  places  on  the 
seventh  day,  in  which  at  the  dawning  thereof  they  were  found. 
And  yet  these  were  ordinances  belonging  to  that  seventh-day 
Sabbath."  There  are  other  books  on  the  subject,  it  is  true,  but 
this  book  of  his  "  being  little,  may  best  suit  such  as  have  but 
shallow  purses,  short  memories,  and  but  little  time  to  spare, 
which  usually  is  the  lot  of  the  mean  and  poorer  sort  of  men." 

"  The  Pharisee  and  the  Publican  "  *  was  sent  forth  by  a  pub- 
lisher wlio  appears  now  for  the  first  time.  The  previous  book 
was  issued  by  Nathaniel  Ponder,  while  this  bears  the  imprint, 
"  London  :  Printed  for  Jo.  Harris,  at  the  ILirrow,  over  against 
the  Church  in  the  Poultrey.  1G85."  This  first  edition,  if  in- 
deed it  be  as  Charles  Doe  gives  it  in  his  list,  the  first  editioji, 
is  ornamented  with  an  engraved  frontispiece,  the  upper  half 
being  a  representation  of  the  Temple,  with  the  Pharisee  and 
Publican  praying  ;  and  the  lower  half  a  portrait  of  Bunyan, 
with  the  words  underneath,  "  Vera  J^fiigies  Johanis  Bunyan, 
.ZVA.  8U0D  07."     lie  proceeds  to  contrast  these  two  men  :  — 

"  It  is  strange  to  hoo,  and  yet  it  is  soon,  tliat  nun  cross  in  tlioir 
minds,  cross  in  their  principles,  cross  in  their  approlumsions,  yea 
and  cross  in  thoir  prayers,  too,  should  yet  moot  in  the  toniplo  to 

•  A  J)iiicour»e  upon  Ihe  I'/iariiee  and  the  J'ubltaui  ;  wln-jrvhi  Hcvcnil  great  anil 
weighty  thingH  iin;  hundlud.  IJy  John  Hunyun,  Aullior  of  tho  J'tly rim's  hogreu. 
Lfjn'lon :  rrintod  for  Jo.  Ilarriii,  ut  t)i<!  Harrow,  over  agiiiiiMl  tho  Church  in 
the  I'oultpy,  10H6.  Kipontadd arddainmnj y  I'haraead  a'r  I'ubltcan.  (.'.ucrfyrddiii, 
1776.     12iuu. 

A  A 


854  JOBN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  xv. 

pray.  The  Pharisee  did  carry  the  bell  and  did  wear  the  garland 
for  religion,  the  Publican  was  counted  vile  and  base  and  reckoned 
among  the  worst  of  men,  even  as  our  informers  and  bum-bailiffs, 
are  with  us  at  this  day.  The  Publican  was  a  Jew,  but  he  fell  in 
with  the  heathen  and  took  the  advantage  of  their  tyranny  to  pole,  to 
peel,  to  rob,  and  impoverish  his  brethren.  The  one  was  an  open 
outside  sinner,  the  other  a  filthy  inside  one.  The  Pharisee  prayed 
with  himself,  said  Christ.  It  is  at  this  day  wonderful  common  for 
men  to  pray  extempore  also.  To  pray  by  a  book,  by  a  premeditated 
set  form,  is  now  out  of  fashion.  He  is  counted  nobody  now,  that 
cannot  at  any  moment,  at  a  minute's  warning,  make  a  prayer  of 
half  an  hour  long.  I  am  not  against  extempore  prayer,  for  I  believe 
it  to  be  the  best  kind  of  praying;  but  yet  I  am  jealous  that  there 
are  a  great  many  such  prayers  made,  especially  in  pulpits  and  public 
meetings,  without  the  breathing  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  them.  For  if 
a  Pharisee  of  old  could  do  so,  why  may  not  a  Pharisee  do  the  same 
now  ?  Wit  and  reason  and  notion  is  now  screwed  up  to  a  very 
great  height ;  nor  do  men  want  words  ol-  fancies,  or  pride,  to  make 
them  do  this  thing.  Great  is  the  formality  of  religion  this  day  and 
little  the  power  thereof."  "The  Pharisee  prayed  with  himself. 
God  and  the  Pharisee  were  not  together,  there  was  only  the  Pharisee 
and  himself.  How  many  times  have  I  heard  ancient  men  and 
ancient  women  at  it  with  themselves,  when  all  alone  in  some  private 
room  or  in  some  solitary  path ;  and  in  their  chat  they  have  been 
sometimes  reasoning,  sometimes  chiding,  sometimes  pleading,  some- 
times praying,  and  sometimes  singing ;  but  yet  all  has  been  done 
by  themselves  when  all  alone.  So  the  Pharisee  was  at  it  with  him- 
self, he  and  himself  performed  at  this  time  the  duty  of  prayer.  God, 
saith  he,  I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are.  I  remember 
that  Luther  used  to  say,  '  In  the  name  of  God  begins  all  mischief  ' 
All  must  be  fathered  upon  God — God,  I  thank  thee,  is  in  the  per- 
secutor's lips,  is  the  burden  of  the  heretic's  song,  is  in  every  man's 
mouth,  and  must  be  entailed  to  every  error,  delusion,  and  damn- 
able doctrine  that  is  in  the  world. 

"But,  0  thou  blind  Pharisee,  since  thou  art  so  confident  that 
thy  state  is  good,  prithee  when  didst  thou  begin  to  be  righteous  ? 
Was  it  before  or  after  thou  hadst  been  a  sinner  ?  What  means 
thy  preferring  of  thine  own  rules,  laws,  statutes,  ordinances, 
and  appointments  before  the  rules,  laws,  watutes,  and  appoint- 
ments of  God  ?  What  kind  of  righteousness  shall  this  be  called  ? 
What  back  will  such  a  suit  of  apparel  fit,  that  is  set  together 
just  cross  and  thwart  to  what  it  should  be  ?  And  wilt  thou  call 
this  thy  righteousness ;  yea,  wilt  thou  stand  in  this,  plead  for  this, 


1685-6.]     7.V  THE  REIGN  OF  JAMES  TUE  SECOND.       355 

and  venture  an  eternal  concern  in  such  a  piece  of  linsey-woolsey 
as  this '?  0  fools  and  blind  !  It  was  partly  for  the  sake  of  mine 
own  good  deeds  that  I  obtained  mercy  to  be  in  heaven  and  glory  ; 
shall  this  be  the  burden  of  the  song  of  heaven?  oris  this  that  which 
is  composed  by  that  glittering  heavenly  host,  and  which  we  have 
read  of  in  the  holy  book  of  God  ?  No,  no,  that  song  runs  upon 
other  feet,  standeth  in  far  better  strains,  being  composed  of  far 
higher  and  truly  heavenly  matter.  Thou  hast  set  tliyself  against 
God  in  a  way  of  contending ;  thou  standest  upon  thy  jioints  and 
pantables ;  thou  wilt  not  bate  God  an  ace  of  what  thy  righteousness 
is  worth,  and  wilt  also  make  it  worth  what  thyself  shall  list.  Phari- 
see, I  will  assure  thee,  thou  art  beside  the  saddle ;  thy  state  is  not 
good.  A  man  must  be  good  before  he  can  do  good,  and  evil  before 
he  can  do  evil ;  for  a  tree  must  be  a  sweeting  tree  before  it  yields 
sweetings  ;  and  a  crab  tree  before  it  brings  forth  crabs. 

"  And  now  see  how  thwart  and  cross  the  Pharisee  and  the  Pub- 
lican did  lie  in  the  temple  one  to  another.  The  Pharisee  goes  in 
boldly,  the  Publican  stands  behind,  a  loof  off,  as  one  not  worthy  to 
approach  the  divine  presence  ;  the  Pharisee  hath  many  fine  things 
whereby  he  strokes  himself  over  the  head,  and  in  effect  calls  him- 
self, and  that  in  his  presence,  one  of  God's  white  boys — but  alas  ! 
poor  Publican,  thy  guilt  stops  thy  mouth,  thou  hast  not  one  good 
thing  to  say  of  thyself.  What  wilt  thou  do,  Publican,  what  wilt 
thou  do  ?  Make  an  0  yes  ;  let  all  the  world  be  silent ;  yea  let  the 
angels  of  God  come  near  and  listen ;  for  the  Publican  is  come  to 
have  to  do  with  God !  '  He  smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  God  be 
merciful  unto  me  a  sinner.'  And  is  this  thy  way,  poor  Publican  ? 
0  cunning  sinner  !  0  crafty  Publican  !  thy  wisdom  has  outdone  the 
Pharisee,  for  it  is  better  to  ai)ply  ourselves  to  God's  mercy  than  to 
trust  to  ourselves  that  wo  are  righteous.  The  Publican  did  hit  the 
mark — yea,  get  nearer  unto  and  more  into  the  heart  of  God  and  his 
Son  than  did  the  Pharisee." 

After  tlie  appearance  of  flu's  book  in  the  early  part  of  1085,  its 
author  sent  out  only  one  other  work  between  that  year  and  1(!88, 
an  unusual  circumstance  for  his  facile  pen,  which  may  possibly 
be  accounted  for  by  the  troubles  of  the  stormy  intervening 
years.  As  number  37  in  Charles  Doc's  list  of  liunyan's  worsk 
wo  have  the  following:  "A  IJook  for  IJoys  and  Girls,  or 
Country  Rhymes  for  Children  in  verso  on  seventy-four  iliings. 
108G."  There  is  no  copy  remaining  of  the  first  edition.  The 
first  rej)rint   of    which   wo    have    any    knowledge    is    that    by 

aa2 


356  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap.  xv. 

E,.  Tookey  of  Threadneedle  Street,  issued  in  1701,  and  bearing 
the  title,  "  A  Book  for  Boys  and  Girls,  or  Temporal  Things 
Spiritualized,"  by  John  Bunyan.  In  the  edition  of  1724  the 
title  was  again  altered  to  the  form  it  has  kept  ever  since  : 
"  Divine  Emblems,  or  Temporal  Things  Spiritualized."  The 
earliest  reprint  appears  to  have  been  issued  in  1688,  when  it 
was  advertised  as  "  Country  Rhymes,"  and  as  selling  for  six- 
pence. In  1707  this  book,  in  which  Bunyan  appears  as  a  sort 
of  religious  ^sop,  began  to  be  illustrated,  and  in  1757,  E.  Dilly, 
at  the  Rose  and  Crown  in  the  Poultry,  issued  an  edition  which 
he  called  the  tenth,  with  a  new  series  of  illustrations  and  a 
preface  "  Addressed  to  the  Great  Boys  in  Folio  and  the  Little 
Ones  in  Coats,"  signed  J.  D.  A  later  edition  was  published  in 
1767,  by  "William  Johnston  of  Ludgate  Hill,  and  in  1780,  the 
book  was  brought  out  by  Alexander  Hogg,  in  his  Collected 
Edition,  and  adorned  with  copper-plate  engravings,  the  figures 
represented  being  all  dressed  out  in  the  costumes  of  the  days 
of  George  III.,  the  men  with  cocked  hats  and  queues,  the 
women  with  hooped  petticoats  and  high  head-dresses,  the 
clergymen  with  many  tiered  wigs,  and  the  housemaids  with 
mob-caps  and  aprons.  A  few  years  ago  an  edition  on  fine 
paper,  and  with  reproductions  of  the  illustrations  of  1757,  was 
issued  by  Messrs.  Bickers  and  Son,  with  an  introduction  by 
Alexander  Smith,  the  Scottish  poet. 

Bunyan  tells  us  in  his  characteristic  preface  that  this  book 
is  meant  for  boys  and  girls,  slily  adding  that  he  means  those 
of  all  ages,  and  of  all  sorts  and  degrees,  for  often  our  bearded 
men  do  act  like  beardless  boys,  our  women  please  themselves 
with  childish  toys.  To  do  good  to  these  juveniles  of  all  ages  he 
will  come  down  to  meet  them : 

"  Good  reader,  that  I  save  them  may, 
I  now  with  them  the  very  dotterel  play ; 
And  since  at  gravity  they  make  a  tush, 
My  very  beard  I  cast  behind  a  bush  ; 
And  like  a  fool  stand  fingering  of  their  toys, 
And  all  to  show  them  they  are  girls  and  boys." 

Possibly  his  book  may  not  be  welcome  to  all,  for  he  who  pleases 
all  must  rise  betimes.  He  might  if  he  would  have  taken  a 
higher  flight,  but   to  what  purpose?     The  arrow  shot  out  of 


1687.]       ly  THE  liEIGX  OF  JAMES  THE  SECOND.        337 

sight  awakes  not  the  sleeper  ;  it  may  make  children  gaze,  hut 
'tis  that  which  hits  a  man  doth  him  amaze.  The  hook,  wliich 
is  in  rhyme,  rises  here  and  there  to  poetry,  and  everywhere  is 
marked  by  good  sense  and  wise  intent,  making  up  altogether  a 
collection  of  such  similes  as  were  ever  coming  to  the  writer's 
mind  like  ripples  over  a  stream.  There  are  reflections  upon 
the  clouds  edged  with  silver,  and  upon  that  which  is  a  comely 
sight  to  see,  a  world  of  blossoms  on  an  apple-tree.  The  boy 
chasing  the  butterfly,  the  mole  burrowing  in  the  earth,  the 
bush  with  comely  ruddy  rose,  but  bearing  also  its  sharpened 
thorn,  and  the  child  calling  to  her  breast  the  bird  that  will  not 
come,  all  pass  before  him,  and  all  flash  their  gleam  of  light 
upon  the  deeper  life  within.  Nothing  is  too  homely  for  the 
writer's  purpose,  not  even  the  whipping  of  a  top,  the  falling 
or  sputtering  of  candles,  or  the  cackling  of  a  hen  ;  but  there  are 
times  when  he  soars  on  higher  wing.  The  lark  and  tlie  fowler 
set  forth  the  sinner  and  the  tempter  ;  the  variety  of  birds  flying 
in  the  firmament  suggests  the  variety  of  individual  life  in  the 
men  who  one  day  shall  possess  the  heavens ;  the  dawn,  with 
its  flickerings  between  light  and  dark,  becomes  symbolic  of 
the  doubtful  soul  on  which  the  Sun  of  righteousness  is  begin- 
ning to  rise  ;  and  the  swallow  soaring  on  light  wing  calls  up 
a  fancy  which  might  have  dropped  from  George  Herbert's  pen  : 

"  Tliis  pretty  bird,  0  I  how  she  flies  and  sings, 
liut  could  she  do  so  if  she  had  not  wings  P 
Her  wings  bespeak  my  fiith,  her  songs  my  peace  ; 
W'heu  1  believe  and  sing  my  doublings  ceaso." 

A  few  months  after  the  publication  of  these  **  Country  Uliymes," 
there  was  polilicully  a  strangely  altered  world  in  l^higland,  and 
Bunyan's  local  ijifluence  witli  the  Nonconformists  made  him 
of  sufficient  imj)ortance  to  be  sought  after  in  the  service  of  the 
Government.  His  personal  friend  who  wrote  the  continuation 
of  the  "  Grace  Abounding,"  referring  to  the  clianges  that  were 
introduced  by  James  \\.,  has  tlie  following  passage:  "  During 
these  things  there  were  regulators  sent  into  all  cities  and  towns 
corporate  to  new-model  the  government  in  the  magistracy,  &c., 
by  turning  out  some  and  putting  in  others.  Against  tiiis,  Mr. 
liunyan  expressed   his  zeal  with    some  weariness,  as  foreseeing 


358  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [ohap.  xv. 

the  bad  consequences  that  would  attend  it,  and  laboured  with 
his  congregation  to  prevent  their  being  imposed  on  in  this 
kind ;  and  when  a  great  man  in  those  days,  coming  to  Bed- 
ford upon  some  su<;h  errand,  sent  for  him,  as  it  is  supposed  to 
give  him  a  place  of  public  trust,  he  would  by  no  means  come 
at  him,  but  sent  his  excuse."  This  great  man  who  tried  to 
work  Bunyan  round  to  his  purpose,  was  probably  that  Thomas 
Lord  Bruce  who  had  recently  succeeded  his  father  as  Earl  of 
Ailesbury  at  Houghton  House — a  man  whom  the  Noncon- 
formists had  good  cause  to  remember,  and  of  whom  they  might 
well  be  afraid,  even  M'hen  he  came  carrying  gifts.  To  under- 
stand Banyan's  position  at  this  crisis  it  is  necessary  to  go  back 
a  step  or  two  in  the  general  history  of  the  time. 

The  King,  a  Roman  Catholic  himself,  was  resolved  to  give 
his  own  religion  an  equal  standing  in  the  country  with  that  of 
the  Established  Church.  To  this  the  way  seemed  open ;  the 
judges  had  decided  in  favour  of  his  disjoensing  power,  and  Par- 
liament, so  far  as  he  knew,  was  such  as  he  would  have  it.  He 
proceeded,  therefore,  to  yet  more  decisive  action.  Authority 
was  granted  to  avowed  Eomanists  among  the  clergy  to  remain 
in  their  livings  ;  bishoprics  as  they  fell  vacant  were  filled  up 
by  sycophants  on  whom  he  could  rely  ;  and  the  Court  of  High 
Commission,  after  being  long  laid  aside,  was  once  more  set  up 
and  invested  with  absolute  control  over  universities,  colleges^ 
cathedrals,  and  all  ecclesiastical  corporations  whatever,  with 
power  of  summary  excommunication  and  deprivation  of  all  and 
sundry  who  might  be  disobedient.  The  result  of  all  this  was 
soon  manifest  enough.  The  religious  Orders  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  began  to  walk  the  streets  openly,  dressed  in  their  pecu- 
liar garb  ;  convents  rose  and  eminent  converts  were  made ;  the 
Franciscans  found  a  home  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  the  Car- 
melites in  the  city,  the  Benedictines  at  St.  James's  Palace,  and 
the  Jesuits  in  the  Savoy.  Bad  feeling  sprang  up  between  con- 
tending parties,  and  street  riots  resulted.  A  mass-house  was 
broken  into  in  Cheapside,  the  crucifix  carried  out  and  fixed  on 
the  parish-pump,  and  when  the  train-bands  were  called  out  to 
put  down  the  riot,  they  flatly  refused  to  fight  in  favour  of 
popery. 

The  King,    who  was    now    rapidly    estranging  his   former 


1687.]       IN  THE  REIGX  OF  JAMES  TEE  SECOND.        359 

friends,  sought  by  a  deep  stroke  of  policy  to  win  the  Non- 
conformists to  his  side.  On  the  4th  of  April,  1087,  ap- 
peared the  memorable  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  in  which,  on 
his  own  sole  authority,  he  proceeded  to  annul  a  long  series  of 
statutes,  and  suspended  all  penal  laws  against  all  classes  of 
Nonconformists.  This  document  went  further  than  the  Decla- 
ration of  1672,  in  that  it  not  merely  suspended  the  penal  laws, 
but  also  dispensed  with  all  religious  tests.  Constitutionalists 
and  Churchmen  grew  alarmed,  and  now  the}--  on  their  part 
tried  to  win  the  Nonconformists  over  to  their  side.  Thus  began 
what  has  been  called  the  strangest  auction  recorded  in  history, 
when  the  Protestant  Dissenters,  who  had  lately  been  the 
religious  outcasts  of  the  country,  held  the  balance  of  power 
between  the  King  and  the  Church.  Though  both  sides  were 
compromised  up  to  the  hilt,  they  each  tried  to  throw  on  the 
other  the  blame  of  those  sufferings  which  the  Nonconformists 
for  so  long  had  endured — the  Court  on  the  clergy,  and  the 
clergy  on  the  Court.  It  was  a  changed  world,  indeed,  when 
the  Court  began  to  treat  the  once-persecuted  sectaries  with 
such  deference,  and  the  clergy  to  speak  of  them  as  their  dear 
brethren  in  the  Protestant  faith,  and  both  sides  with  many  fair 
speeches  and  flattering  promises  tried  to  draw  the  waverers  to 
themselves. 

The  King,  having  parted  with  his  former  Parliament  in 
anger,  found  it  necessary  to  call  another  ;  but  if  this  were  to  be 
of  any  use  to  him  he  felt  tliat  it  must  be  manipulated  before- 
hand. Again,  therefore,  it  was  resolved  to  remodel  the 
boroughs,  and  at  the  same  time  to  revise  the  commission  of  the 
peace  and  the  lieutenancy  of  counties,  retaining  only  such 
persons  in  the  public  service  as  could  be  relied  on  to  support 
the  policy  of  the  Court.  Each  lord-lieutenant  was  immediately 
to  go  down  to  his  county,  and  summoning  before  him  uU  his 
deputies  and  all  justices  of  the  peace,  put  to  them  a  series  of 
questions  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  how  they  would  act 
at  a  general  election.  Tlie  answers  to  these  (luestions  lie  was 
to  take  down  in  writing  and  forward  to  the  GoviMiiment.  He 
was  also  to  furnish  lists  of  persons  suitable  for  the  bench  and 
for  the  command  of  the  army,  to  examine  into  tlu;  state  of  all 
boroughs  in   his  county,  and   make  his   reports.     These  duties 


360  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xv. 

lie  was  to  perform  personally,  and  on  no  account  to  delegate 
them  to  any  substitute  whatever. 

Half  the  lord-lieutenants  of  England  at  once  refused  to  dis- 
charge the  duty  imposed  upon  them ;  but  among  those  who 
consented  was  that  Thomas,  Earl  of  Ailesbury,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  office  in  Bedfordshire  in  1685.  Summoning 
his  deputies  and  the  justices  either  to  the  Swan  Chamber  or  to 
the  old  chapel  of  Heme  in  Bedford,  he  put  to  them  the  three 
questions  which  were  being  put  all  the  country  over,  viz. — 
"  (1)  If  in  case  you  shall  be  chosen  Knight  of  the  Shire  or  Bur- 
gess of  a  Towne,  when  the  King  shall  think  fitt  to  call  a  Par- 
liament, will  you  be  for  taking  off  the  Penall  Laws  and  Tests  ? 

(2)  Will  you  assist  and  contribute  to  the  Election  of  such  Mem- 
bers as  shall  be  for  takeing  off  the  penall  Laws  and  Tests  ?  and 

(3)  Will  you  support  the  King's  Declaration  for  Liberty  of  Con- 
science by  living  friendly  with  those  of  all  perswasions,  as  sub- 
jects of  the  same  Prince  and  good  Christians  ought  to  do  ?" 

The  answers  to  these  questions  have  been  preserved  among 
the  Rawlinson  MSS.  in  the  Bodleian,  and  throw  curious  light 
on  the  position  of  men,  many  of  whom  had  been  harassing  their 
neighbours  for  years  for  resisting  the  law,  and  now  find  that 
thev  themselves  are  opposed  to  the  King,  in  a  world  strangely 
turned  upside  down.  To  their  honour  be  it  said,  most  of  them 
stood  firm  to  their  convictions.  From  Bedfordshire  the  answers 
were   as  follows:    Sir  George   Blundell  "Humbly  answers — 

(1)  That  as  a  private  person  he  does  not  apprehend  that  he  has 
any  legal  power  to  pre-engage  himself  against  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment before  they  have  undergone  another  parliamentary  debate ; 

(2)  He  submissively  answers  that  occurrences  are  so  variable  in 
future  contingencies  by  the  order  of  Divine  providence,  that  he 
cannot  pretend  to  a  capacity  of  determining  beforehand  what 
his  thoughts  and  actions  will  be  in  progress  of  time  in  affairs  of 
this  nature  ;  (3)  Is  sincerely  willing  to  live  peaceably  with  such 
who  are  of  other  persuasions,  having  no  animosity  to  the  person 
of  any  man  for  difference  of  opinion."  Clearly,  as  this  third 
answer  shows.  Sir  George's  education  had  been  going  forward 
since  he  sat  on  the  bench  that  sent  Bunyan  to  prison  in  1660, 
and  since  he  distrained  the  cows  and  looms  of  the  Gotten  End 
Meeters  in  1670.    Sir  John  Gotten  of  Stratton  Park,  if  sent  to 


1G87.]       AV  THE  REIGN  OF  JAJfES  THE  SECOXI).        3G1 

the  House  would  go  with  the  design  of  being  convinced  by  the 
best  arguments,  and  would  vote  for  men  of  the  same  sort.  So 
also  said  Sir  Richard  Abbot,  Sir  Edmoud  Gardiner,  and  Thomas 
Doekraw. 

Others,  such  as  Benjamin  Conquest  and  Thomas  Christie, 
varied  the  phrase,  but  kept  their  position  by  saying  that 
they  would  comply  with  the  king's  inclination  so  far  as  they 
could  do  it  with  a  good  conscience.  John  Osborn  "  must 
ingenuously  own  that  he  cannot  be  for  the  repeal  of  those  laws 
which  he  thinks  are  for  the  preservation  of  his  King  and  countiy, 
nor  assist  others  to  do  it."  Of  the  same  mind  is  John  Harvey, 
thouirh  he  thinks  with  rav  Lord  Chief  Justice  Herbert  that  the 
king  may  and  ought  to  dispense  with  his  servants  as  he  thinks 
best.  Sir  Anthony  Chester  cannot  consent  to  the  repeal  of  the 
penal  laws,  but  is  willing  to  live  peaceably  with  men  of  other 
])ersuasions.  Of  this  mind  also  were  "William  Butler,  the  Hon. 
Charles  Leigh,  Sir  "William  Gostwick,  Sir  Villicrs  Chernocke, 
Itichard  Orlebar,  and  the  Farrers,  father  and  son.  Thomas  and 
llalph  Bromsall  of  Blunham  and  Xorthill  were  for  removing 
the  tests  so  far  as  they  applied  to  the  king  himself,  but  could 
not  consent  to  repeal  the  penal  laws  against  phanatiques,  to 
give  them  too  much  liberty.  John  Ventriss  would  repeal  the 
laws,  "  if  only  Roman  Catholics  were  to  be  eazed  by  it,  for  the 
phanatiques  will  get  too  much  strength  by  it,  and  they  are 
utter  enemies  to  the  King's  person,  crown,  and  monarchy." 
There  is  one  other  of  the  Bedfordshire  justices  whose  answer 
we  must  not  pass  by,  namely,  "William  Foster,  Doctor  of  Laws 
and  J. P.,  whom  we  have  so  often  met  since  ho  first  held  up  the 
candle  to  Bunyan  in  the  low-roofed  hall  of  llarlington  House. 
The  answer  opposite  to  his  name  is  simply  this,  "  Ho  submitts 
all  to  His  Majestie's  Tlcasure."  Tliat  is,  though  for  more  than 
a  quarter  of  u  century  Foster  had  been  harassing  other  men  for 
their  convictions,  he  was  evidently  not  overwciglitcd  with  con- 
victions of  his  own.  It  will  bo  remembered  that  Mr.  Uy-ends, 
of  the  town  of  Fair-speecli,  had  two  eminently  resjjectublo 
kinsmen,  whose  names  were  Mr.  Facing-both-ways  and  Mr. 
Anything.  I'eradventuro  these  wortliics  were  not  aldtgcthcr 
imknown  to  Dr.  William  l-'oster,  nor  their  principles  altogether 
alien  to  his  spirit.     Be  that  us  it  may,  he  was  the  only  man  on 


362  JOHN  BUN  YAK  [chap.  xv. 

the  Bedfordshire  bench  in  1687  who  was  willing  to  think  any- 
thing or  nothing,  as  the  King  might  desire,  on  the  great  ques- 
tion of  the  time.* 

There  was  small  comfort  for  Lord  Ailesbury  or  his  master 
out  of  all  this,  and  he  proceeded  next  to  regulate — that  was 
the  phrase — the  Bedford  Corporation.  But  before  this,  as  the 
following  letter  from  John  Est  on  indicates,  he  had  been  feel- 
ing his  way  in  the  town  : — 

"  My  Lord,  since  your  Honour  spake  with  me  at  Bedford  I  have 
conferred  with  the  heads  of  the  Dissenters  and  particularly  with 
Mr.  Margetts  and  Mr.  Bunyon  whom  your  Lordship  named  to  me. 
The  first  of  these  was  Judge -Advocate  in  the  Army  under  the  Lord 
General  Monke,  when  the  late  King  was  restored;  the  other  is 
Pastor  of  the  Dissenting  congregation  in  this  Town.  I  find  them 
aU  to  be  unanimous  for  electing  only  such  Members  of  Parliament 
as  will  certainly  vote  for  repealing  all  the  Tests  and  Penal  Laws 
touching  Eeligion,  and  they  hope  to  steere  all  their  friends  and 
followers  accordingly ;  so  that  if  the  Lord-Lieutenant  will  cordially 
assist  with  his  influence  over  the  Church  party  there  cannot  be  in 
human  reason  any  doubt  of  our  electing  two  such  members. 

"  I  nominated  to  them  two  such  Grentlemento  stand  for  Burgesses, 
but  (I  must  confess)  they  returned  upon  me  with  reiterated  desires 
that  I  would  stand  for  one,  and  therefore  rather  than  the  King  shall 
fail  of  one  to  vote  for  repealing  the  Tests  and  Penal  Laws  I  shall  be 

*  Rawlinson  MSS. — Penal  Laws  and  Test.  ff.  134,  et  seq.  In  the  same  papers 
are  the  following  lists  of  the  same  date:  (1)  Persons  proposed  to  be  Justices  of  the 
Peace  by  a  Commission  of  Assistance  for  the  Toivne  of  Bedford :  Wm.  Isaac 
(Intended  Mayor),  Sir  Edmond  Gardiner,  Wm.  Foster,  John  Eslon,  Eobt. 
Audley,  and  Thos.  Margetts.  (2)  Persons  proposed  to  be  Peputy- Lieutenants  for  the 
County  of  Bcdfo7-d  :^Siv  John  Napier,  Sir  Rowland  Alston,  Sir  Wm.  Beecher,  Sir 
John  Burgoyne,  Wm.  Foster,  Wm.  Edmunds  of  Battlesden,  Matthew  Dennis  of 
Kempston,  Tho3.  Brown  of  Arlsey,  and  Thos.  Hillersdon  of  Elstow.  These 
three  names  were  crossed  out — Wm.  Foster  (reinserted  by  another  hand),  Robert 
Audley  of  Biggleswade,  and  John  Eston  of  Bedford.  (3)  Persons  to  be  Justices  of 
the  Peace  besides  the  above-named  :  Sir  Jas.  Astrey  of  Harlington,  Wm.  Boteler  of 
Biddenham,  Robert  Montague  of  Sharnbrook,  Ralph  Bromsall  of  Blunham, 
Gaius  Squire  of  Eaton  Socon,  Samuel  Ironsides  of  Layton  Beaudesert,  Rich. 
Orlebar  of  Harrold,  Wm.  Whitehred  of  Cardington,  Francis  Reynolds  of  Carlton, 
Robt.  Audley  of  Biggleswade,  John  Ventriss,  Wm.  Daniell,  Thos.  Bromsall, 
John  Estun  of  Bedford.  It  may  be  presumed  that  all  these  gentlemen  are 
named  as  not  opposed  to  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence.  There  is  the  mark  of 
the  cross  opposite  to  the  names  of  Ventriss,  Daniell,  and  Thos.  Bromsall,  possibly 
as  indicating  doubt. 


1687.]       IX  THE  REIGN  OF  JAJIES  THE  SECOND.        3C3 

willing  to  stand.  The  other  they  desired  to  stand  with  me  is  Robert 
Audley,  Eso  .  late  Deputy  Recorder  of  our  Town,  who  when  in 
power  was  very  indulgent  to  all  Dissenters.  I  sent  yesterday  a 
letter  to  him  at  his  howse  in  Bigglesward,  but  he  was  gone  into 
Lincolnshire,  and  my  letter  returned.  In  the  next  place  we  had 
thoughts  of  Sir  Edmond  Gardiner,  our  present  Recorder,  who  we 
humbly  conceive  will  incline  to  stand  and  to  vote  for  repealing,  if 
your  Honour  be  pleased  to  send  for  him,  and  propose  it,  espeeiuUy  if 
it  be  made  known  that  it  will  be  no  charge  to  him  and  that  the 
Lord  Lieutenant's  interests  shall  be  conjounct  with  ours  in  the  Elec- 
tion.    Sir  Edmond  is  now  in  London  at  Lincoln's  Inn. 

"  My  zeal  against  the  Tests  and  Penal  Laws  is  so  fervent  that  I  can- 
not but  strenuously  endeavour  in  my  sphere  to  promote  the  electing 
of  such  Members  of  Parliament  as  will  certainly  damn  them,  and 
therefore  what  further  reasonable  instruction  I  shall  receive  from 
yourLordshippes  to  serve  my  Sovereign  in  this  affair,  shall  be  with  all 
diligence  and  faithfulnesse  observed  by,  my  Lord,  Your  Honour's 
most  humble  and  most  faithful  servant, 

"  Bedford,  November  22,  1687.  "  John  Eston."  * 

Notwithstanding  the  hopeful  tone  o£  this  letter,  it  would 
appear  that  its  writer's  candidature  did  not  prosper ;  and 
it  would  seem  also  that  it  was  not  possible  to  obtain  the 
consent  of  Robert  Audley  or  Sir  Edmond  Gardiner  to  stand 
with  him,  and  that  his  proposed  colleague  now  was  Dr.  Foster. 
The  next  letter  from  Eston,  u  fortnight  later,  was  endorsed, 
"  To  the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Pcterboioiigh,  at  his 
Lodgings  in  the  Stone  Gallery  at  Whitehall."  This  nobleman 
was  one  of  the  Mordaunts  of  Turvoy,  in  Bedfordshire,  and 
though  brought  up  a  Protestant,  had  that  same  year  become  a 
Roman  Catholic,  and  thus  reverted  to  the  religion  of  his 
ancestors.  Macuulay  says  of  him  that  he  had  been  an  active 
soldier,  courtier,  and  negotiator,  but  that  "  now  he  was  broken 
down  by  years  and  inlirniities  ;  and  those  who  saw  him  totter 
ab(jut  the  galleries  of  Whitehall,  leaning  on  a  stick,  and 
swathed  up  in  flannels  and  plasters,  comforted  themselves  for 
his  defection  by  remarking  that  he  had  not  changed  liis  religion 
till  he  had  outlived  his  faculties."  t     To  this  tottering  bulwaik 

•   liauUtuon  MSS.  A.  13'Ja.    'J'ho  writer  of  tliiu  luUor  waa  thu  Hon  of  thut  John 
1-^ton  who  wuM  ono  of  thu  fouiidin  of  thu  Ucdfurd  Church,  uud  who  died  iu  10U2. 
t   Ui»t.  of  England,  ii.,  \M\. 


364  JOEN  BUNYAK  [chap.  xv. 

of  King  James   and  the  Papacy,  John   Eston   writes   as  fol- 
lows : — 

"Eight  Honourable:  I  most  humbly  begg  your  Lordship's 
pardon  for  this  additional  trouble,  beseeching  that  my  heartiness  for 
His  Majestie's  service  may  expiat  for  my  boldness.  The  clergy  of  this 
Town  and  several  Corporation  Officers  as  well  as  others,  do  labour 
pro  aris  et  focis  to  oppose  both  the  Doctor  and  m3'self,  though  they 
understand  it  to  be  the  King's  desire  that  we  should  stand.  The 
Dissenters  are  firm  for  us,  but  the  Churchmen  are  implacable  against 
us,  and  I  hear  their  reasons  are,  first,  because,  the  Doctor  and 
myself  are  professedly  for  repealing ;  secondly,  because  the  King  hath 
nominated  us  ;  and  for  these  two  reasons  they  endeavour  to  expose 
and  ridicule  us  ever  so  much  that  'tis  necessary  some  measures  be 
taken  as  shall  seem  best  in  his  Majestie's  princely  wisdom  to  vindi- 
cate us  an,d  to  deter  our  Adversaries  who  thrust  at  him  through  our 
sides  by  their  endeavour  to  abase  us  for  our  appearing  to  stand  for  his 
Majestie's  service  according  to  our  duty  and  conscience.  The  cheife 
of  our  opposers,  the  Lord  Lieutenant  (I  presume)  can  otherwayes  in- 
fluence, if  he  will  heartily  endeavour  it  by  his  Letters  to  Mr.  Christie, 
the  Mayor  and  Aldermen,  and  the  Clergy  who  are  the  Lieutenant's 
votaries.  I  had  a  prospect  at  the  beginning  of  my  carrying  the  Elec- 
tion by  my  own  Interest  in  the  Town,  but  now  I  see  it  not  probable 
without  further  countenance  from  Authority,  if  it  is  your  Honour's 
desire  we  should  proceede. 

"  It  is  (my  Lord)  the  misery  of  this  kingdom  that  so  much  Demo- 
cracie  is  mixed  in  the  Government  that  thereby  the  exercise  of  the 
Soveraign  power  should  be  in  any  manner  limited  by  the  suffrages 
of  the  common  people,  whose  humours  are  allwayes  fluctuating,  and 
the  most  part  of  them  guided  not  by  reason,  but  without  delibera- 
tion like  mere  animals.  But  the  circumstances  of  this  nation  are 
much  altered  from  what  they  were  when  that  democratical  alay 
[alloy]  of  monarchic  was  first  made  ;  and  therefore  seeing  those 
circumstances  are  changed  which  were  the  reason  of  that  mixture, 
'tis  necessary  there  should  be  a  change  of  Alay;  for  otherwise  we  may 
be  destroyed  by  that  which  before  was  our  preservation.  And  I  hope 
this  will  be  considered  of  next  Parliament  whether  I  have  the  honour 
to  sit  there  or  not.  Having  represented  our  case  above,  I  leave  it  to 
your  Lordship's  prudent  consideration,  resolving  whatever  the  issue 
be  to  remain  firmly  loyal  to  my  Soveraign  and  to  approve  myself 
(my  Lord)  your  Honour's  most  obliged  and  most  humble  servant.* 

"  Bedford,  December  6,  1687.  "  John  Eston." 

*  Rawlinson  MSS.  A.,  139a,  fol.  21. 


1687.]       IX  TBE  REIGN  OF  JAMES  THE  SECOND.        365 

It  would  appear  that  the  suo;i2:cstion  of  this  letter  was  iniino- 
diately  acted  iipou,  and  that  the  Lord-Lieuteuaut  wrote  dowu 
to  the  Bedford  Corporation  on  behalf  of  the  candidature  of 
Eston  and  Foster,  for  in  the  minutes  of  that  body  under  date 
December  19th,  we  have  the  followin<>: — 

"Answer  sent  to  the  Eight  lion.  Thos.  Earl  of  Ailesbury  from 
the  Mayor  concerning  the  Election  of  Burgesses  to  serve  in  Parlia- 
ment. '  In  obedience  to  your  Honour's  coiTmnds,  I  this  day 
Sumoned  a  Councill,  and  did  acquaint  them  with  what  your  Lord- 
ship said  that  my  Lord  of  Peterboro'  had  acquainted  His  Majestic 
that  Dr.  Foster  and  Mr.  Eston  were  fit  persons  to  servo  ;  but  the 
Election  is  not  in  the  Corporation  alone,  but  every  Inhabitant  (not 
taking  Collections  nor  being  a  sojourner  and  noe  freeman)  hath  a 
vote,  therefore  they  cannot  give  assurance  how  the  majority  of 
voices  will  determine.  But  all  who  were  in  the  Councill  did  declare 
that  when  his  Majestie  shall  be  pleased  to  issue  writs,  they  will 
endeavour  the  Election  of  such  members  as  they  shall  believe  to  bo 
of  undoubted  loyalty  and  that  shall  be  serviceable  to  the  King  and 
Kinffdome.'  " 


'O" 


It  is  evident  from  this  reply  that  the  Mayor  and  Corpora- 
tion had  ideas  of  their  own  as  to  the  meaning  of  undoubted 
loyalty,  and  as  to  the  sort  of  persons  who  would  be  really 
serviceable  to  the  king  and  kingdom,  and  did  not  mean  to 
elect  the  two  candidates  proposed  to  them.  This  was  as  clearly 
understood  at  Whitehall  as  in  the  Bedford  Council  Chamber. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Privy  Council,  therefore,  held  towards  the 
end  of  January,  an  order  in  Council  was  passed  for  removing 
out  of  the  town  of  Bedford,  Thomas  Underwood,  Mayor,  and 
Aldermen  Faldo,  sen.,  William  Faldo,  jun.,  and  John  White; 
and  Councillors  John  Fenn,  John  Bundy,  Robert  Beckett,  and 
Thomas  Church  ;  and  for  electing  the  king's  trusty  and  well- 
beloved  William  Isauck  Mayor  ;  Aldermen  John  lOston,  Wil- 
liam Beckett,  aud  Jc^lin  Spencer;  Councillors  John  Peck, 
Andrew  Freebody,  Jcdin  Rush,  and  James  Voalo.  These 
persons  thus  substituted  were  not  to  take  any  oaths  except  for 
the  due  execution  of  tljeir  respective  phices,  all  other  tests 
being  dispensed  with.  The  Order  in  Council  was  signed  by 
Lord  Sunderland,  and  was  accompanied  with  a  Letter  Man- 
datory slating  that- 


366  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xv. 

"  Whereas  by  the  Charter  granted  to  the  Town  of  Bedford  a 
Power  is  reserved  to  His  Majesty  by  His  Order  in  Conncill  to  re- 
move from  their  Imployments  any  officers  in  the  said  Town,  His 
Majesty  in  Councill  is  pleased  to  order  the  removal  of  the  persons 
aforesaid."  * 

A  further  Order  in  Council  and  Letter  Mandatory  were 
issued  on  the  25th  of  March  completing  the  work  begun  in 
January,  and  displacing  "  Pauls  Cohb,  John  Crawley,  Ralph 
Smith,  and  Robert  Faireman,  Aldermen ;  Robert  Faireman 
and  Richard  Hamont,  Councilmen,  and  nominating  the  King's 
trusty  and  well-beloved  William  Bamforth,  William  NichoUs, 
Thomas  Woodward,  and  William  Woodward  to  be  Aldermen  ; 
John  Bardolph  and  Henry  Clarke,  jun.,  to  be  Common  Coun- 
cell  men."  William  Hawkes  was  to  be  chosen  in  the  place 
of  William  Isaak,  elected  Mayor,  and  while  Paul  Cobbe  was  to 
be  removed  from  the  Council,  he  was  to  be  continued  in  his 
office  as  Clerk  of  the  Peace.  Some  six  or  seven  of  the  men 
thus  brought  into  the  Bedford  Corporation  by  the  King's 
order,  were  prominent  members  of  Bunyan's  congregation  ; 
three  of  them — Thomas  Woodward,  William  Hawkes,  and 
William  Nichoils  being  then  or  shortly  after  Deacons  of  the 
Church.  On  the  other  hand,  John  Fenn,  one  of  the  Coun- 
cillors displaced,  was  also  one  of  the  Deacons,  unless,  as  is  not 
improbable,  this  was  the  son  of  the  John  Fenn  whom  we  have 
known  in  that  capacity  and  in  whose  house,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  Church  held  its  meetings  during  the  persecution  of  1670. 

As  to  Bunyan's  personal  feeling  in  reference  to  the  policy 
of  King  James,  the  evidence  is  somewhat  conflicting.  The 
contemporary  writer  quoted  already  from  the  continuation 
of  the  Grace  Abounding  tells  us  that  against  this  policy, 
"  Mr.  Bunyan  expressed  his  zeal  with  some  weariness,  fore- 
seeing the  bad  consequences  that  would  attend  it,  and  la- 
boured with  his  congregation  to  prevent  their  being  imposed 
on  in  this  kind."  On  the  other  hand,  John  Eston,  in  the 
letter  just  given,  states  that  he  had  as  requested  seen  the  heads 
of  the  Dissenters  in  Bedford,  and  "  particularly  Mr.  Margetts 
and   Mr.    Bunyon,  and   that   he  found  them    all   unanimous 

*  Minutes  of  Privy  Council,  Jan.  29tli  and  March  25tli ;  Minutes  of  Bedford 
Corporation,  March  8th  and  April  ICth,  1688. 


1688.J       ly  THE  liEIGX  OF  JAMES  THE  SECOND.        367 

for  electing  only  sucli  Members  of  Parliament  as  would  vote 
for  the  repeal  of  all  Tests  and  Penal  Laws  touching;  religion," 
Possibly  the  truth  lies  midway.  It  would  appear  that  matters 
had  proceeded  so  fur  that  some  place  under  Government  was 
to  be  offered  to  Bunyan  to  secure  his  influence.  lie  was  not, 
however,  to  be  worked  upon.  Yet  while  refusing  all  such 
overtures  and  declining  even  to  see  the  man  who  brought 
them,  who  was  probably  none  other  than  Lord  Ailesbury  him- 
self, we  mav  infer  that  neither  Bunyan  nor  tlie  leadins? 
attendants  upon  his  ministry  were  averse  to  accept  of  the 
liberty  brought  by  this  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  any  more 
than  they  were  to  accept  of  that  conferred  by  the  similar 
Declaration  of  1G72.  The  dispensing  power  might  be  uncon- 
stitutional, and  the  attempt  to  repeal  the  penal  laws  and  tests 
might  have  a  sinister  purpose,  still  these  laws  themselves  were 
inhuman  and  unjust,  and  ought  to  be  repealed.  Beneath  the 
lash  of  such  legislation  Bunyan  and  his  people  had  smarted  for 
now  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century.  It  was  not  wonderful  that 
they  should  support  tht  policy  of  repeal  and  welcome  the  time 
of  relief  without  inquiring  too  curiously  into  the  motives  of 
the  men  who  were  trying  to  bring  them  about. 

Certain  it  is  that  for  a  brief  space  some  of  tlic  Nonconformists 
whom  Bunyan  had  taught  and  trained  came  at  this  time  into  the 
Council  of  the  borough,  and  equally  certain  that  their  coming 
was  followed  by  such  a  reform  of  abuses  as  had  not  been  known 
for  a  long  time  and  of  which  there  was  urgent  need.  For  ex- 
ample, several  previous  mayors  had  for  years  kept  in  their  own 
possession  moneys  belonging  to  the  charitable  foundations  of 
the  town,  and  these  at  once  received  notice  to  pay  in  all  such 
moneys  that  they  might  be  disposed  of  according  to  the  will 
of  the  donor.  The  Ilagable  rent  rolls  of  the  corporation 
required  rectification  after  alienation  and  unauthorised  alttra- 
tions,  and  these  were  put  under  investigation  with  a  view  to 
restoration  at  the  next  Court  Baron  of  the  town.  For  some  two 
or  three  years  past  an  annual  charily  of  i'-'JO,  left  by  a  Mrs. 
Collins  for  ten  poor  widows,  had  been  weighted  with  tlio  asser- 
tion "  that  resorting  to  church  was  a  qualilication  recjuired  by 
the  will  of  the  person  leaving  the  bequest."  TIm«  new  Mayor 
and  Corporation   on   the    Gth   of  Siptumber  entered    on   their 


368  JOBN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xv. 

minutes,  "  the  declaration  that  they  had  that  day  seen  and  read 
the  copie  of  the  said  Will  and  Deed  of  Settlement,  and  that  the 
said  £30  is  given  for  the  maintenance  of  ten  poor  widows  of 
the  Towne  of  Bedford  yearly  for  ever  without  any  restriction 
or  lymitation  to  widdows  that  resort  to  Church,  and  without 
any  other  qualification  than  poverty."  So  things  went  on.  It 
was  an  altered  world  indeed  since  the  good  old  times  of  quiet 
management  with  closed  doors,  and  of  forty  shilling  penalties 
upon  any  council-man  who  should  "  disclose  his  fellow's  coun- 
sell,"  or  upon  any  doorkeeper  of  the  Chamber  who  should 
whisper  what  he  had  heard,  or  suffer  curious  loiterers  to  listen. 
Great  must  have  been  the  consternation  of  venerable  owls  at  the 
letting  in  of  all  this  daylight  and  shrill  the  screeching  that 
followed. 

After  reconstructing  the  magistracy  of  the  counties  in  the 
way  we  have  seen,  and  regulating  the  corporations  of  the 
boroughs,  the  King,  on  the  27th  of  April,  1688,  put  forth  a 
second  Declaration  of  Indulgence  in  which,  after  reciting  at 
length  that  of  the  previous  April,  he  told  his  people  that  his 
purpose  was  immutably  fixed,  and  exhorted  them  to  choose 
such  representatives  as  would  assist  him  in  the  great  work  of 
giving  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  nation.  On  the  4th  of  May, 
an  order  was  issued  commanding  the  clergy  to  read  this 
Declaration  in  their  parish  churches  on  two  successive  Sundays 
during  divine  service,  refusal  to  be  followed  within  a  week  by 
ejection.  Great  were  the  searchings  of  heart  which  followed 
in  many  a  rectory  and  vicarage  through  the  country  as  the 
royal  command  reached  parish  after  parish.  Of  course  it  was 
variously  received  by  those  to  whom  it  was  sent.  Sometimes 
by  misgiving,  compliance  or  stout  resistance,  and  sometimes  by 
clever  evasion.  In  the  diocese  of  Norwich,  except  in  some 
three  or  four  parishes  out  of  about  1,200,  the  preacher  for  the 
day  so  contrived  to  read  the  document  that  not  one  of  his 
parishioners  could  possibly  know  what  it  was  about.  There  is 
a  good  story  told  of  one  incumbent  who  informed  the  people 
that  though  he  was  enjoined  to  read  they  were  not  compelled  to 
listen,  and  who  suggested  that  they  should  retire  while  he  read 
the  Declaration  to  empty  benches  and  mere   church    walls.* 

*  Stouyhton's  Clturch  of  the  Restoration,  i\.,  14S. 


16S8.]       IX  THE  REIGN  OF  JAMES  TRE  SECONL.       369 

Bishop  Barlow  wlio,  four  years  ago,  laid  it  down  to  the  Dissen- 
ters of  Bedfordshire  as  an  irrefragable  principle  that  subjects 
are  bound  to  obey  their  rulers  in  matters  of  religion,  is  now 
not  so  clear  on  that  point.  One  of  the  clergy  of  his  diocese, 
in  dire  perplexity  as  to  what  he  should  do,  wrote  to  the  Bishop 
for  counsel,  the  messenger  to  wait  at  Buckden  Palace  for  the 
reply.  He  received  the  following  answer  which,  like  the 
responses  from  the  oracles  of  antiquity,  is  not  so  clear  or 
decisive  as  it  might  be: — 

"Sir, — I  received  yours,  and  all  that  I  have  time  to  say  (the 
messenger  which  brought  it  making  so  little  stay  here)  is  only  this . 
By  His  Majesty's  command  I  was  required  to  send  that  Declaration 
to  all  Churches  in  my  diocese,  in  obedience  whereto  I  sent  them. 
Now,  the  same  authority  which  requires  me  to  send  them,  requires 
you  to  read  them.  But  whether  you  should  or  should  not  read 
them,  is  a  question  of  that  difficulty,  in  the  circumstances  we  now 
are,  that  you  can't  expect  that  I  should  so  hastily  answer  it,  espe- 
cially in  writing.  The  two  last  Sundaj's,  the  Clergy  in  London 
were  to  read  it,  but,  as  I  am  informed,  they  generally  refused.  For 
myself  I  shall  neither  persuade  nor  dissuade  you,  but  leave  it  to  your 
prudence  and  conscience,  whether  you  will  or  will  not  read  it ;  only 
this  I  shall  advise,  that,  if  after  serious  consideration,  you  find  that 
3'ou  cannot  read  it,  but  reludante  vel  duhitante  conscientiu,  in  tliat 
case,  to  read  it  will  bo  your  sin,  and  you  to  blame  for  doing  it.  I 
f-hall  only  add  that  God  Almighty  would  be  so  graciously  pleased 
to  bless  and  direct  you,  so  that  you  may  do  notliing  in  this  case, 
which  may  be  justly  displeasing  to  God,  or  the  King,  is  tlio  prayer 
of  your  hninj;  friend  and  brother :  Thos.  Lincoln.* 

"Buckden,  May  29,  1G88." 

After  reading  this  temporizing  deliverance  from  the  Bi.shop, 
it  is  pleasant  to  listen  to  a  more  manly  utterance  from  one  of 
the  clergy,  an  acquaintance  by  the  way  of  Bunyan's,  whom  we 
met  with  some  years  earlier  in  Bedfordshire,  Kdward  Fowler, 
formerly  rector  of  Northill,  but  now  vicar  of  St.  Giles's,  Cripple- 
gate.  At  the  consultation  of  the  London  clergy,  the  feeling  at 
first  seemed  to  bo  in  favour  of  obeying  the  Order  in  Council. 
As  the  dispute  waxed  warm,  Fowhr  rose,  and  with  the  clear 
ring  of  resolution    in   his   words,   he  said  :   "  I   must  be  j)lain. 

•  tiloughlon*  t'hureh  of  the  KetlorUion,  ii.,  150. 
II  II 


370  JOHN  BTINYAN.  [chap.  xv. 

The  question  Is  so  simple  that  argument  can  throw  no  new 
light  on  it,  and  can  only  beget  heat.  Let  every  man  say  yes 
or  no.  But  I  cannot  consent  to  be  bound  by  the  vote  of  the 
majority.  I  shall  be  sorry  to  cause  a  breach  of  unity.  But 
this  Declaration  I  cannot  in  conscience  read."  This  man,  who 
knew  his  own  mind,  helped  other  men  to  know  theirs,  and  in 
the  end  eighty-five  of  the  city  incumbents  signed  a  document 
pledging  themselves  not  to  read  the  Declaration, 

The  events  which  followed — the  Trial  of  the  Seven  Bishops, 
and  the  delirious  joy  of  the  nation  over  their  acquittal ;  the 
moody  vexation  of  the  King  at  his  defeat,  and  his  own  steady 
descent  down  the  steeps  of  Avernus — all  this  belongs  to  the 
general  history  of  the  time  rather  than  to  the  simpler  purpose 
before  us.  There  is,  however,  in  the  back-ground  of  the  story, 
one  ominous  figure  flitting  to  and  fro  between  London  and 
the  Hague,  during  the  early  months  of  that  eventful  sum- 
mer, whom  it  may  be  well  for  us  not  to  overlook.  This  was 
Edward  Russell,  nephew  of  the  Earl  of  Bedford,  and  therefore 
cousin  to  that  Lord  William  Bussell  whose  untimely  fate  so 
many  good  men  deplored.  He  was  a  man  of  courage  and 
capacity,  though  of  turbulent  temper,  and  had  seen  widely 
difierent  phases  of  life.  A  sailor  once  and  a  courtier  afterwards, 
be  had  been  in  the  royal  service  both  on  the  high  seas  and  in 
the  palace  of  Charles.  The  execution  of  his  cousin  had,  how- 
ever, gone  to  his  heart  and  alienated  him  for  ever  from  the 
House  of  Stuart,  and  he  was  now,  along  with  others,  carrying 
on  those  negotiations  with  the  Prince  of  Orange  which  were  to 
end  in  the  great  Revolution  and  a  changed  England  for  the 
generations  to  come.  The  same  30th  June  on  which  the  bells 
of  a  hundred  steeples  were  ringing  out  the  joy  of  the  people 
over  the  acquittal  of  the  Bishops,  Edward  Russell's  plans  had 
80  far  succeeded  that  there  was  despatched  from  London  to  the 
Hague  an  instrument,  which  has  been  described  as  scarcely  less 
important  to  the  liberties  of  England  than  the  Great  Charter 
itself. 


Bunyan's  House  in  St.  Clthbeut's,  Bedford. 


XVI. 


lU.'NVAX'S  LAST  DAYS. 


Druixo  the  moinorablo  ycurs  over  which  wo  liuve  l>oon  passiiin;, 
liunyjin  livcrl  on  in  the  parish  of  St.  Cuthbert.  This  parish, 
situato  on  the  east  Hide  of  the  town,  was  very  small  in  o.xfent, 
having  in  it  only  ten  families  in  the  reij^'ti  of  I'ili/.aheth,  and, 
acconlinj;^  to  the  Hearth  Tax  roll  of  KJTM-l,  forly-seven  families 
in  the  time  of  Jiunyan.  Mven  in  \(\i)^>,  the;  1*1  i;.;;uo  year,  wlieii 
the  mortality  in  some  of  tho  iJedfftnl  puriiihcs  wiia  cousidcrublu, 

uu2 


372  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  xvi. 

the  deaths  in  St.  Cuthbert's  from  all  causes  were  only  two. 
Banyan's  house  stood  in  what  was  then  the  common  street  of 
the  parish,  now  called  St.  Cuthbert's  Street.  It  was  a  plain 
homelj'^  structure  which  was  unfortunately  taken  down  in  1838 
to  make  way  for  the  two  commonplace  cottages  standing 
opposite  to  the  house  known  as  The  Cedars.  The  room  to  the 
right  of  the  doorway  was  a  narrow  apartment,  known  as  John 
Bunyan's  parlour,  the  fire-place  of  which  had  for  the  upper 
bar  of  the  grate  a  steelyard  stamped  with  the  letters  J.  B. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  entrance  was  the  living  room  of  the 
family,  which  was  much  larger  ;  there  was  also  a  small  apart- 
ment spoken  of  as  the  study,  and  in  the  garden  behind  there 
was  an  outbuilding  which  seemed  as  if  it  had  been  used  as  a 
workshop.* 

The  only  known  contemporary  reference  to  Bunyan's  resi- 
dence here  is  found  in  the  diary  of  Thomas  Hearne,  the  well- 
known  antiquary,  where  he  says:  "I  heard  Mr.  Bagford,  some 
time  before  he  died,  say  that  he  walked  once  into  the  country, 
on  purpose  to  see  the  study  of  John  Bunyan.  When  he  came 
John  received  him  very  civilly  and  courteously ;  but  his  study 
consisted  only  of  a  Bible  and  a  parcel  of  books,  the  '  Pilgrim's 
Progress,'  chiefly,  written  by  himself,  all  lying  on  a  shelf  or 
shelves."  In  a  lately  published  collection  of  letters  addressed 
to  Mr.  Hearne,  there  is  one  dated  1716,  from  James  Sotheby, 
from  which  we  gather  that  Mr.  Bagford  was  then  no  longer 
living ;  and  as  he  attained  the  age  of  sixty-five  or  sixty- six  he 
may  well  have  seen  the  Dreamer  and  talked  with  him  in  his 
own  house,  as  he  stated  to  his  friend. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  Bunyan  published  nothing 
after  his  "  Country  Rhymes,"  in  1686,  till  1688,  when  he 
made  up  by  increased  activity  for  this  unusual  interval.  Be- 
tween March  25th,  when  the  year  began,  and  the  month  of 
August  when  he  died,  he  sent  out  no  fewer  than  five  books, 
while  another  followed  within  a  month  of  his  death.  These  six 
books,  thus  published  almost  simultaneously  after  the  second 
Declaration  of  Indulgence,  were  "  The  Jerusalem  Sinner  Saved ;" 
"  The  Work  of  Jesus  Christ  as  an  Advocate,"   "  The  House  of 

*  These  particulars  were  furnished  by  William  Blower,  Esq.,  of   Eedford, 
who  a8  a  medical  man  had  known  the  house  for  several  years. 


1688.]  Buy  TAX'S  LAST  DAYS.  373 

God,"  "  The  Water  of  Life,"  "  Solomon'.s  Temple  Spiritualised," 
and  "The  Acceptable  Sacrifice."      The  tir.st  of  these  was  on  a 
favourite  theme   of  his,  and   was  tlie  outcome  of  a  favourite 
sermou.     He  says,  "  I  have  found  through  God's  grace,  good 
success  in  preaching  upon  this  subject,  and  perhaps  so  I  may 
by  my  writing  upon  it  too."     If  the  circulation  of  a  book  may 
be  any  test  of  its  usefulness,  this  hope  of  his  was  not  altogether 
frustrated,  for  before  1728,  "The  Jerusalem  Sinner  Saved"*  had 
been  translated  into  several  languages,  and  gone  through  ten 
editions.     No  copy  is  known    to  exist  of  the  first  two  ;  the 
earliest  we  have  is  one  of  the  third  edition,  published  in  1(591, 
by  Elizabeth  Smith,  at  the  Hand  and  Bible,  on  London  Bridge, 
possii)ly  some  kinswoman  of  Bunyan's  former  publisher,  Francis 
Smith.     The  treatise  is  based  upon  the  command  of  our  Lord 
to  preach  his  gospel  unto  all  the  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem. 
The  apostle  Peter  (Acts  iii.  25,  26)  seems  to  imply  that  because 
the  men  of  Israel  were  the  children  of  the  prophets  and  of  the 
covenant,  therefore  unto  them  first  God  having  raised  up  Ilis 
Son  Jesus    sent    the    blessing.      Bunyan,    however,   takes  the 
command  to  begin  with  the  gospel  at  Jerusalem  as  a  command 
to  take  it  to  the  worst  sinners  first — because  "in  a  word,  Jeru- 
salem was  now  become  the  shambles,  the  very  slaughter-shop  for 
saints,  the  place  where  the  prophets,  Christ,  and  His  people 
were  persecuted  and  put  to  death.     For  Christ  will  show  mercy 
where  sins  are  in  number  the  most,  in  cry  the  loudest,  in  weight 
the   heaviest.     It  is  thus   that  He  gets  to  Himself  a  glorious 
name."  "Physicians  get  neither  name  nor  fame  by  pricking  of 
wheals,  or  picking  out  tliistlcs,  or  by  laying  of  plasters  to  the 
scratch  of  a  pin  ;  every  old  woman  can  do  this,    liut  if  they  would 
have  a  name  and  a  fame,  if  they  will  have  it  (juiikly,  they  must, 
as  I  said,  do  some  great  and  desperate  cures.     Let  them  fetch 
one  to  life  that  was  dead  ;  let  them  recover  one  to  his  wits  that 
v/as  mad  ;  let  them  make  one  that  wa.s  born  blind,  to  see ;   or 
let  them  give  ripe  wits  to  a  fool;  these  are  notables  cures,  and 
lie  that  can  do  tiius,  and  if  he  doth  tiius  first,  he  sliall  have  the 
name  and  fume  he  desires  ;    he  mav  lie  a-bed  till  noon."      It  is 

•  T/ie  Jrrunalfm  Suiner  Suitd  :  <jr  (Joixl  Niiwn  for  tlio  Vilcrtt  of  Min  :  Itcinff  n 
Help  for  iJirNpiiiriri^  StmlH.  liy  John  liunyuu  uf  budfurd.  [No  t'lmt  Edition 
extat«  ]     Second  Hdilion.     U.  Lurktn,  108U. 


374  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvi. 

by  great  deliverances  that  Christ  gets  great  renown.  "  Why 
should  he  so  easily  take  a  denial  of  the  great  ones  that  were  the 
grandeur  of  the  world,  and  struggle  so  hard  for  hedge-creepers 
and  highwaymen,  but  to  show  forth  the  notes  of  the  glory  of 
His  grace  ?  "  Bunyan  says  he  could  on  this  matter  speak  from 
personal  experience.  He  himself  had  been  a  great  sin-breeder, 
infecting  the  youth  of  the  town  where  he  was  born. 

"  Wherefore  Christ  Jesus  took  me  first ;  and  taking  me  first,  the 
contagion  was  much  allayed  aU  the  town  over.  When  Grod  made 
me  sigh  they  would  hearken  and  inquiringly  say,  'What's  the 
matter  with  John  ? '  When  I  went  out  to  seek  the  bread  of  life, 
some  of  them  would  follow  and  the  rest  be  put  into  a  muse  at 
home.  Yea,  almost  the  whole  town,  at  first,  at  times  would  go 
out  to  hear  at  the  place  where  I  found  good ;  yea,  young  and  old 
for  a  while  had  some  reformation  on  them ;  also  some  of  them 
perceiving  that  God  had  mercy  upon  me,  came  crying  to  him  for 
mercy  too." 

Let  not  the  Jerusalem  sinner  despair,  for  he  is,  so  to  speak, 
called  for  by  name  and  singled  out  to  come  in  for  mercy. 

"  Thou  man  of  Jerusalem,  hearken  to  thy  call ;  men  do  so  in 
courts  of  judicature,  and  presently  cry  out,  *Here,  sir;'  and  then 
they  shoulder  and  crowd,  and  say,  '  Pray,  give  way,  I  am  called 
into  the  Court.'  Whj-,  this  is  thy  case,  thou  great,  thou  Jerusalem 
sinner ;  be  of  good  cheer,  he  calleth  thee.  Why  sittest  thou  stiU  ? 
Arise  :  why  standest  thou  still  ?  Come,  man,  thy  call  shoidd  give 
thee  authority  to  come;  wherefore  up  and  shoulder  it,  man  ;  say, 
*  Stand  away,  devil,  Christ  calls  me ;  stand  away,  unbehef,  Chi^ist 
caUs  me  ;  stand  away,  all  ye  my  discouraging  apprehensions,  for 
my  Saviour  calls  me  to  him  to  receive  of  his  mercy.'  Men  will  do 
thus,  as  I  said,  in  courts  below;  and  why  shouldst  not  thou  approach 
thus  to  the  Court  above  ?  Christ  pointeth  over  the  heads  of  thou- 
sands as  he  sits  on  the  throne  of  grace  directly  to  the  man  that  is 
the  biggest  sinner  and  has  the  biggest  burden,  and  says,  '  Let  the 
Jerusalem  sinner  that  stands  there  behind  come  to  me.'  Wherefore 
since  Christ  says  '  come '  to  thee,  let  the  angels  make  a  lane,  and 
let  all  men  give  place,  that  the  Jerusalem  sinner  may  come  to  Jesus 
Christ  for  mercy.  It  is  because  Christ  shows  mercy  to  the  vilest 
that  Satan  rages  so  strongly,  and  as  he  can  do  nothing  with  Christ 
he  assails  Christ's  people.  He  holds  our  hands  while  the  world 
bufi'ets  us ;  he  puts  bearskins  upon  us,  and  then  sets  the  dogs  at 


1688.]  HrXYAX'S  LAST  DATS. 


oio 


us.  He  bedauboth  us  with  his  own  foam,  and  then  tempts  us  to 
believe  tliat  that  bedaubing  comes  from  ourselves.  Let  the  tempted 
think  much  on  Christ's  mercy ;  for  tlie  tempted  wherever  he  dwells 
always  thinks  himself  the  biggest  sinner.  This  is  Satan's  master 
argument.  I  say  this  is  his  maul,  his  club,  his  mastorpioce  :  he 
doth  with  this  as  some  do  with  their  most  enchanting  songs,  sing 
tliem  everywhere.  Resist  him  steadfast  in  the  faitli.  There  is 
nothing  like  faith  to  help  at  a  pinch.  Faith  must  bo  always  in 
exercise.  Onl}'  put  not  in  the  place  thereof  presumption.  I  have 
observed  that  as  tliere  are  herbs  and  flowers  in  our  gardens,  so 
there  are  counterfeits  in  the  field  ;  only  they  are  distinguished  from 
tlie  others  by  the  name  of  wild  ones.  Why,  there  is  faith,  and  wild 
faith ;  and  wild  faith  is  this  presumption.  I  caU  it  wild  faith 
because  God  never  placed  it  in  his  garden — his  church ;  'tis  only 
to  be  found  in  his  field — the  world.  I  also  call  it  wild  faith, 
because  it  only  grows  up  and  is  nourished  where  other  wild  notions 
abound.  Wherefore  take  heed  of  this  and  all  may  be  well.  But 
let  a  true  faith  be  always  at  work.  Faith  is  the  eye,  is  the  mouth, 
is  the  hand,  and  one  of  these  is  of  use  all  day  long.  Faith  is  to 
see,  to  receive,  to  work,  or  to  eat ;  and  a  Christian  should  be  seeing, 
or  receiving,  or  working,  or  feeding  all  day  long.  Let  it  rain,  let 
it  blow,  let  it  thunder,  let  it  lighten,  a  Christian  must  still  believe. 
At  what  time,  said  the  good  man,  I  am  afraid  I  will  trust  in 
thee." 

As  this  on  the  Jerusalem  Sinner  was  addressed  to  those 
outside  the  kingdom  of  God,  liunyan's  next  book,  "  The  Work 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  an  Advocate,"  *  was  addressed  to  those  within. 
It  was  published  for  hira  by  that  Dorman  Newman  at  the 
King's  Arms  in  the  Poultry,  who  six  years  before  had  pub- 
lished the  "  Holy  War."  Ilapponing  to  hear  a  sermon  from 
an  unenlightened  scribe,  who  told  the  people  to  see  that  their 
cause  be  good,  else  Christ  will  not  undertake  it,  "  Lord," 
thought  I,  "  if  this  be  true,  what  shall  I  do,  and  what  will 
become  of  all  this  people,  yea  and  of  this  preacher  too?"  At 
once  he  set  about  showing  how  Ciirist  pleads  for  those  who 
through  their  sin  have  no  plea  of  their  own.  On  other  grounds, 
also,  there  seemed  u  needs-bo  for  a   timely  word.     "  Clirist  «« 

•  T/ie  Work  of  JetuM  ChrUl  ai  an  Advoratr,  Clearly  Kxplaincd  ami  Jjirjjnly 
Improvod  for  U'-nt-fil  of  nil  Ililii-virH.  Hy  John  Hunyiin,  Author  of  the  /'lii/nm't 
J'royreMM.  I»ii(ioD :  rrintcd  for  JJorumu  Mcwuiaii,  ul  tho  King'n  Anns  ui  tho 
Toullry,  10»». 


376  JOHN  BUNT  AN.  [chap.  xvi. 

Sacrifice,  Priest,  and  King,  with  the  glories  in  and  that  flow 
from  him  as  such,  has,  God  be  thanked,  in  this  our  day  been 
much  discovered  by  our  seers,  and  as  much  rejoiced  in  by  those 
who  have  believed  their  words ;  but  as  he  is  an  Advocate  with 
the  Father  for  us,  the  excellency  of  that  doth  too  much  lie  hid, 
and  but  little  of  the  glory  thereof  has  by  writing  been  in  our 
day  communicated."  To  meet  error,  therefore,  on  the  one  side 
and  glorify  truth  on  the  other,  he  adventures  to  write  of  Him 
that  never  lost  a  cause  nor  a  soul  for  whom  He  undertook  to  be 
an  Advocate  with  God. 

The  third  production  of  Bunyan's  pen,  in  1688,  was  a  poetical 
"  Discourse  of  the  Building,  Nature,  Excellency,  and  Govern- 
ment of  the  House  of  God."  It  was  first  published  in  a  pocket 
volume  of  sixty-three  pages  by  George  Larkin,  and  then  seems 
to  have  dropped  altogether  out  of  sight  till  quite  recent  years, 
when  a  copy  was  brought  to  light  through  the  intervention  of 
Mr.  Creasy,  bookseller,  Sleaford.  It  was  then  for  the  first  time 
reprinted,  and  added  to  Mr.  Offer's  edition  of  Bunyan's  Col- 
lected Works.*  Looking  at  the  subject  itself,  one  would  have 
thought  that  the  nature,  constitution,  and  government  of  a 
Christian  Church  would  not  have  furnished  a  very  promising 
theme  for  poetry  ;  yet  we  find  that  he  who  pictured  the  Palace 
Beautiful  had  not  lost  the  cunning  of  his  right  hand  when,  in 
this  form  also,  he  sets  forth  the  beauty  of  the  Church,  its 
strength  and  defence,  and  the  delicateness  of  its  situation.  It 
is  a  fair  vision  that  rises  before  him.  Beneath  the  very  threshold 
of  this  house  arise  goodly  springs  of  lasting  grace.  Sweet  is 
the  air  all  round,  and  here  are  perfumes  most  pleasant  to  the 
sense.  The  gardens  yield  richest  spice  and  goodly  trees  of  frank- 
incense, while  near  are  arbours,  walks,  and  fountains,  standing 
round  are  mountains,  from  which  you  may  see  the  Holy  Land, 
and  in  the  valleys  between  are  fertile  fields  adorned  with  corn 
and  lilies  fair  : — 

"  Angels  do  here  go  by,  turn  in  and  rest, 
The  road  to  Paradise  lies  by  her  gate  ; 
Here  pilgrims  do  themselves  accommodate 
With  bed  and  board,  and  do  such  stories  tell 
As  do  for  truth  and  profit  all  excel." 

*  A  Discourse  of  the  Building,  Nature,  Excellenci/,  and  Government  of  the  Home 


168S.]  BUXYAyS  LAST  BAYS.  377 

He  passes  from  the  governors  of  the  house  and  its  under- 
officers  to  the  order  and  manner  of  government.  Love  must 
rule  and  sympathy  share  grief;  forgiveness  is  a  statute  law, 
watchfulness  unto  prayer  a  binding  duty.  That  sincerity  which 
makes  heaven  smile  upon  us  is  enjoined  upon  the  dwellers  in 
this  house  of  the  Church  ;  so  is  Temperance,  the  mother  of 
Moderation,  and  that  patience  which  hears  all  wrongs  without 
resistance : — 

"  I  doubt  our  pampered  Christians  will  not  down 
With  what  I  say,  yet  I  dare  pawn  my  gown. 
Do  but  compare  my  notes  with  sacred  story 
And  you  will  find  patience  the  way  to  glory." 

Seeing  that  idleness  gives  great  occasions  to  the  flesh,  the  rule 
of  this  honourable  house  is  that  none  dwell  here  but  such  as 
workers  be.  Fig-trees  are  here  to  keep  and  vines  to  dress — 
here's  work  for  all ;  yet  is  the  toil  a  pleasure  and  the  labour 
sweet : — 

"  The  work  is  short,  the  wages  are  for  ever  ; 
The  work  like  we,  the  wages  like  the  giver." 

Almost  as  if  he  had  an  instinctive  feeling  that  for  him  the 
time  of  sundown  was  near,  Bunyan  sent  forth  another  book  in 
these  closing  months  of  his  pilgrimage,  on  "  The  "Water  of 
Life,"*  which  was  published  by  Nathaniel  I'onder.  In  a  pre- 
liminary Epistle  to  the  Reader  he  says  we  may,  if  we  will, 
call  this  book  Bunyan's  Bill  of  his  Master's  Water  of  Life, 
lie  could  give  accounts  of  "  numberless  numbers  that  have  not 
only  been  made  to  live,  but  to  live  for  ever  by  drinking  of  this 
water  ;  many  of  them,  indeed,  are  removed  from  hence  and  live 
where  they  cannot  be  spoken  with  as  yet,  but  abundance  of 
them  do  still  remain  here  and  have  their  abode  yet  with  men. 
]iut  be  sure  to  get  this  life-water  from  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
Himself,  for — 

of  God ;  with  CounKola  and  Directions  to  the  Inhubitiintu  thereof.  Hy  John 
Ilunyun  of  IJedford.  London:  George  I^rkin,  1088.  [Thi«  only  copy  of  the 
First  Kdition  wim  d<Mtroyed  with  the  rent  of  Mr.  OfTDr'w  Colloction.] 

•  The  h'aler  0/ J.i/e,  or  u  DiHciturnit  Hhowing  tint  KicliinHS  uiid  (1  lory  of  tho 
Urnro  and  Spirit  of  tho  (Soxitvl,  n»  not  forth  in  Scripture  by  this  Term,  7Vir  Wuhr 
of  Life,  hy  John  I'liiiiyiin.  London  :  Prinlod  tor  yalfiunirl  I'onilrr,  ut  tho 
IV-acock  in  Ihu  I'uullry,  1CH8.  U\*y*  na  Oeatha.  (iuel.  Kdinburgh :  lUIG. 
1  'iuiu. 


378  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvi. 

*'  There  are  many  mountebanks  in  tlie  world,  and  every  of  them 
pretend  that  they  have  this  water  to  sell.  Go  directly  to  the  Throne 
thj^self,  or  a.&  thou  art  bidden,  come  to  the  waters.  Tor  the  price, 
care  not  for  that,  'tis  cheap  enough ;  this  is  to  be  had  without 
money  or  price.  But  let  it  not  be  slighted  because  it  is  offered  to 
thee  upon  terms  so  full,  so  free.  For  thou  art  sick  and  sick  unto 
death  if  thou  drinkest  not  of  it.  Farewell.  The  Lord  be  thy 
physician." 

In  the  body  of  the  work  he  speaks  of  the  Spirit  and  Grace  of 
God  signified  by  the  water  of  life,  its  great  abundance,  its 
source  or  well-spring  under  the  throne  of  the  Eternal,  and  its 
purity  and  clearness : — 

"  These  are  the  waters  that  the  Doves  love  to  sit  by  because  by 
the  clearness  of  these  streams  they  see  their  pretty  selves  as  in  a 
glass.  These  be  the  streams  where  the  Doves  wash  their  eyes,  and 
by  which  they  solace  themselves  and  take  great  content.  As  in 
fair  waters  a  man  may  see  the  body  of  the  Sun  and  of  the  Moon 
and  of  the  Stars,  and  the  very  body  of  Heaven ;  so  he  that  stands 
upon  the  Bank  of  this  Eiver,  and  that  washeth  his  Eyes  with  this 
water  may  see  the  Son  of  God,  the  Stars  of  God,  the  Glory  of  God 
and  the  habitation  that  God  has  prepared  for  his  People.  And  are 
not  these  pleasant  sights  ?  Is  not  this  excellent  water  ?  has  not 
this  Eiver  pleasant  streams?  This  Eiver  is  the  running  out  o 
God's  heart.  This  is  his  Heart  and  Soul ;  wherefore  forbear  thy 
mistrusts,  cast  oif  thy  slavish  fears,  hang  misgivings  as  to  this  upon 
the  Hedge :  and  believe,  thou  hast  an  invitation  sufficient  thereto,  a 
Eiver  is  before  thy  face.  As  for  the  dead  World  that  loves  to  be 
dead  this  is  nothing  to  them.  They  toss  their  Vanities  about  as 
the  Boys  toss  their  Shittle-Cocks  in  the  Air,  till  their  Foot  slips  and 
themselves  descend  into  the  Pit.     Let  this  suffice  for  this  time." 

The  next  book  of  the  series  issued  by  Bunyan  in  1688  was 
the  one  entitled  "  Solomon's  Temple  Spiritualized ; "  *  which 
was  published  by  George  Larkin,  at  the  Two  Swans.     It  pro- 

*  Solomon's  Temple  Spiritualiz  d,  or  Gospel-Light  Fetcht  out  of  the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem,  to  let  us  more  easily  into  the  Glory  of  New-Testament  Truths.  By  John 
Bunyan.  London  :  Printed  for  and  sold  by  George  Larkin  at  the  Two  Swans 
without  Bishopsgate,  1688.  Salomon's  Temple  door  het  Evangelie  light  Opge- 
heldcrt  en  Vergeeste-hjkt.  Door  M.  Johan  Bunjan  Uyt  het  Engels  vertaalt. 
Te  Utrecht,  1731.  Gogoniant  y  Beml.  Teml  Salomon  wedi  ei  hysbrydoli.  Aber- 
ystwyth: 1810.  Solomon's  Temple  Spiritualized.  Eleventh  Edition.  Londoii : 
Printed  for  J.  Bunyan  above  the  Monument., 


loss.]  BFXYAX'S  LAST  BATS.  379 

fesses  to  be  an  endeavour  to  show  the  gospel  glory  of  Solomon's 
temple.  God  had  tied  up  the  Church  of  the  Jews  to  types  and 
figures  to  be  butted  and  bounded  by  them  in  all  external  parts 
of  worship.  Bunyan  selects  one  out  of  many — the  Temple, 
and  in  seventy  particulars  shows  the  spiritual  significance  of  its 
symbolism,  entering  his  caveat,  by  the  way,  against  the  manu- 
facture of  symbols  in  later  time,  sensibly  saying  that  what  God 
provided  to  be  a  help  to  the  weakness  of  his  people  of  old  was 
one  thing,  and  what  was  invented  without  his  commandment 
was  another. 

"I  dare  not  presume  to  say,"  he  modestly  adds,  "that  I  have 
hit  right  to  every  thing,  but  this  I  can  say,  I  have  endeavoured  so 
to  do.  True  I  have  not  for  these  things  iished  in  other  men's 
waters ;  my  Bible  and  Concordance  are  my  only  library  in  my 
writings.  AVherefore,  courteous  reader,  if  thou  findest  anything 
either  in  word  or  matter  that  thou  shalt  judge  doth  vary  from  God's 
truth  let  it  be  counted  no  man's  else  but  mine.  Pray  God  to  pardon 
it,  and  do  thou  lovingly  pass  it  by  and  receive  what  thou  findest 
will  do  thee  good." 

As  we  might  expect  in  a  book  on  such  a  subject,  there  arc 
many  Bunyanesque  touches.  Speaking  of  the  Temple,  for 
example,  he  says  that  its  porch  was  large,  and  so  should  the 
charity  of  the  churches  be.  "  0  Churches,  let  your  ministers 
be  beautified  with  your  love,  that  they  may  beautify  you  with 
their  love.  There  are  steps  up  into  the  temple,  for  he  tliat 
entereth  into  the  house  of  the  Lord  is  an  ascending  man.  The 
world  thinks  tluit  it  is  a  going  downward  to  go  up  to  God'^ 
house,  but  that  is  their  grievous  mistake.  There  are  steps  up — 
steps  of  God,  steps  of  faith,  steps  of  truth,  steps  butted  and 
bounded  by  a  divine  rule — these  are  steps  indeed.  Then,  the 
liinges  on  which  the  doors  hung  were  of  gold,  to  signily  that 
they  both  turned  upx)n  motives  and  motions  ot  love,  and  also 
that  the  op'-nings  thereof  were  rich  gohlen  hinges  the  gate  to 
God  doth  turn  upon.  So  all  the  j)artH  and  minislries  of  the 
temple  furnish  wise  tlioughts  to  a  wise  heart."  Even  the  very 
snufTers,  it  seems,  may  be  turned  to  edification.  "  For  il  our 
snuffs  are  our  Huperfluities  of  nauglifiness,  our  snuflers,  then, 
are  those  rigliteous   reproofs,   rebukes,  and  admonitions,  which 


380  JOEN  BUNTAK  [chap.  xvi. 

Christ  has  ordained  to  be  in  his  house  for  good.  As  who 
should  say,  '  the  lights  of  the  temple  must  be  trimmed  withal, 
if  they  burn  not  well.'  Only,  the  snuffers  must  be  used  wiselj^ 
It  is  not  for  every  fool  to  handle  snuffers  at  or  about  the 
candles,  lest,  perhaps,  instead  of  mending  the  light,  they  put 
the  candle  out.  And,  therefore,  Paul  bids  them  that  are 
spiritual  do  it.  Watch,  man,  watch  and  let  not  your  snuffs  be 
too  long,  nor  pull  them  oflE"  with  your  fingers,  or  carnal  reason- 
ings, but  with  godly  admonitions.  Use  your  snuffers  graciously, 
curb  vice,  nourish  virtue  ,  so  you  will  use  them  well,  and  so 
your  light  will  shine  to  the  glory  of  God."  Coming  to  the 
singers  in  the  temple,  he  says,  "  Let  us  run  a  little  in  the 
parallel :  The  songs  sung  in  the  temple  were  new,  and  answer- 
able to  this  is  the  Church  to  sing  now  new  songs  with  new 
hearts  for  new  mercies.  New  songs  are  grounded  on  new  matter, 
new  occasions,  new  mercies,  new  deliverances,  new  discoveries 
of  God  to  the  soul,  or  for  new  frames  of  heart  ;  and  are  such  as 
are  most  taking,  most  pleasing  and  most  refreshing  to  the  soul." 
Here,  too,  is  a  characteristic  utterance  about  the  temple  being 
but  one,  on  one  and  the  same  foundation  though  divided  into 
the  holy  and  most  holy  place  :  "  The  difference  betwixt  us  and 
them  is,  not  that  we  are  really  two,  but  one  body  in  Christ,  in 
divers  places.  True  we  are  below  stairs  and  they  above ;  they 
in  their  holiday  and  we  in  our  working-day  clothes ;  they  in 
harbour,  but  we  in  the  storm ;  they  at  rest,  and  we  in  the 
wilderness ;  they  singing  as  crowned  with  joy,  we  crying  as 
crowned  with  thorns.  But,  I  say,  we  are  all  of  one  house,  one 
family,  and  are  all  children  of  one  Father."  Speaking  of  the 
symbolism  of  the  temple  Ezekiel  saw,  and  calling  attention  to 
the  fact  that  in  the  carved  work  on  the  walls  palm-trees 
alternated  with  cherubim,  Bunyan  takes  a  wide  sweep  of  specu- 
lation when  he  suggests  that  this  may  be  to  show  us  that  the 
elect  of  God  shall  fill  the  vacancies  created  by  the  fall  of  the 
angels,  they  for  sin  cast  down  from  the  holy  heavens  and  we  by 
grace  caught  up  thither  to  complete  the  ranks. 

We  have  seen  already  how  the  political  events  that  were 
agitating  the  nation  at  large  keenly  affected  the  municipal  life 
of  Bedford,  and  touched  somewhat  closely  Bunyan  himself. 
Beyond  this,  and  what  we  learn  from  the  books  he  sent  forth 


1688.J  BUXTAN'S  LAST  DATS.  3Sl 

in  1G88,  we  know  but  little  of  him  during  these  clo.sin<j^  months 
of  his  life.  There  are  only  some  eight  lines  in  the  cluirch 
records  referring  to  this  period,  and  these  are  merely  routine 
business  and  by  another  hand.  We  catch  just  one  gleam  of 
local  Bedford  life,  and  of  an  event  that  may  have  startled  him 
as  well  as  his  neighbours,  as  we  read  from  an  old  pamphlet  of 
the  17ih  April  of  that  year,"  Strange  and  Dreadful  Ncwes  from 
the  Towue  of  Bedford,"  of  two  disastrous  fires  which  liappcncd 
there  four  days  before  ;  one  of  them  in  the  night,  when  the 
bells  rang  backward  to  give  the  alarm ;  and  the  other  the  next 
morning,  at  a  malthouse  close  to  Bunyan's  house  on  the  east 
side  of  the  town,  when  '*  persons  were  much  singed  and  burnt 
by  the  sheets  of  flame  driven  in  their  faces  through  the  fury  of 
the  wind."  *  Passing  from  the  month  of  April,  when  Bed- 
ford was  thus  lit  up  with  flame  by  night  and  day,  we  come  to 
the  beginning  of  August,  wlien  Bunyan  took  that  last  journey 
to  London  from  which  for  him  there  was  to  be  no  return, 
taking  with  him  yet  one  MS.  more,  the  last  of  his  he  was 
personally  to  place  in  the  printer's  hands.  This  journey  was 
but  one  of  many  made  through  a  long  series  of  years  to  the 
city  where  his  life  was  to  end.  Even  in  the  closing  days  of  the 
Commonwealth  he  seems  to  have  had  there  a  considerable  circle 
of  friends  who  looked  for  his  visits  with  interest.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  he  tells  us  how  between  the  two  assizes  of 
August,  lOGl,  and  January,  1GG2,  he  had  somewhat  more 
liberty,  and  "did  go  to  see  Christians  at  London,"  which  his 
enemies  hearing  of,  were  angry  with  his  gaoler.  "\Vh(>n  his 
long  imprisonment  was  ended,  his  visits  thither  became  more 
frequent,  and  his  fame  a  steadily-growing  power  during  the 
remaining  sixteen  years  of  his  life.  The  writer  of  the  Con- 
tinuation of  his  Life  says  that — 

"  Wlicn  ho  was  at  leisure  from  writinp:  and  teaching  ho  often 
camo  up  to  London,  end  tluro  went  among  the  congrc'gations  of  the 
NonconformiHts,  and  UHt'd  liis  talent  to  thn  great  g(»(»d-liking  of  his 
Iioarers;  and  oven  Hoino  to  whom  lio  had  been  niiHrt'iirfscnlcd.  upon 
llio  account  <if  his  «'(lucution,  wore  convincrod  of  liis  worth  untl  know- 
hfdgo  in  Kucrod  things,  uh  porcoiving  bini  to  bo  a  man  of  sound 
judgment,  dolivoring   himsolf    plainly   and   powi.Tl'ully  ;    iuHouiuch 

"*  AahuiulcuQ  CuUccUuu.     G.  12. 


382  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  xvi. 

that  many  wlio  came  as  mere  spectators  for  novelty's  sake,  rather 
than  to  be  edified  and  improved,  went  away  well  satisfied  with  what 
they  heard,  and  wondered,  as  the  Jews  did  at  the  Apostles,  viz.  : 
whence  this  man  should  have  these  things." 

Among  Bunyan's  earliest  London  acquaintances,  of  course, 
was  his  Bedfordshire  neighbour  of  other  days,  George  Cokayn, 
the  ejected  minister  of  Soper  Lane,  and  now  the  pastor  of  the 
congregation  in  E,ed  Cross  Street.  He  was  also,  as  we  know, 
on  intimate  terms  of  friendship  with  Dr.  John  Owen,  who  took 
every  opportunity  of  hearing  him  preach,  telling  King  Charles 
that  he  would  willingly  exchange  his  learning  for  the  tinker's 
power  of  touching  men's  hearts.  To  the  pulpits  and  congre- 
gations of  these  well-known  London  preachers,  as  well  as  to 
those  of  others,  he  had  frequent  access  during  his  visits  to  the 
city.  His  sermon  on  "  The  Greatness  of  the  Soul,"  published 
in  168^,  is  described  on  the  title-page  as  "  First  preached  in 
Pinners'  Hall."  That  is  in  one  of  those  halls  of  the  city 
companies  which  were  so  largely  used  by  the  early  Noncon- 
formist congregations  before  they  had  buildings  of  their  own. 
Of  the  Dissenters'  Meeting  Houses,  indeed.  Pinners'  Hall, 
Girdlers'  Hall,  and  Salters'  Hall  ranked  among  the  foremost. 
The  first  of  these — the  one  in  which  Bunyan  preached — was 
situated  in  Pinners'  Hall  Court,  Old  Broad  Street,  and  was  a 
spacious  building,  having  on  three  sides  of  the  Hall  two  tiers 
of  galleries.  It  was  here  that,  as  early  as  1672,  there  was 
established  the  Merchants'  Lecture  which,  with  some  migration 
of  place,  has  come  down  to  our  own  times,  the  first  six 
preachers  of  the  Lecture  being  Bates,  Manton,  Owen,  Baxter, 
Collins,  and  Jenkyn,  all  of  them  names  illustrious  in  the 
annals  of  Nonconformity.  The  pastor  of  the  regular  congre- 
gation was  Pichard  Wavel,  the  son  of  a  Poyalist  major  in  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  and  a  preacher  who,  like  Bunyan  himself,  was 
only  too  familiar  with  the  inside  of  gaols  and  the  other  rough 
experiences  of  those  stormy  times.  It  is  told  of  him,  that 
when  there  came  some  fresh  outburst  of  persecution,  he  ex- 
horted his  people  to  constancy,  assuring  them  that,  if  they 
would  venture  their  purses  he  would  venture  his  person  ;  and 
when  urged  to  counsels  of  prudence  for  his  children's  sake, 
he    quietly    replied,   "  My  children    will    never    want :    their 


16S8]  BUXTAX'S  LAST  DAYS.  ^83 

Ueavenly  Father  will  provide  what  is  necessary ;  and  what  is 
more  than  necessary  is  hurtful." 

The  people  formed  under  a  strenuous  ministry  like  this  were 
those  who  tirst  heard  Bunyan's  sermon  on  the  greatness  of  the 
soul,  in  Pinners'  Hall.  It  may  be,  indeed,  that  it  was  preached 
as  one  of  the  series  of  the  Merchants'  Lecture  itself,  and  in  that 
case  the  ordinary'  congregation  would  be  reinforced  by  many 
Nonconformist  citizens  from  far  and  near.  For  the  lecture 
was  already  a  great  institution  and  a  rallying  point  of  the  most 
intelligent  of  the  London  Dissenters,  heliiing  to  create  that 
larger  knowledge  of  the  great  questions  of  the  religious  life 
which  even  Bishop  Burnet,  with  commendable  candour,  tells 
us  was  a  special  characteristic  of  the  Dissenters  of  his  day. 

We  may  well  suppose  that  Bunyan's  heart-stirring  power  as 
a  preacher,  and  his  growing  fame  as  a  writer  ever  since  his 
"  Pilgrim  "  surprised  and  enchanted  the  world,  led  to  his  being 
lionised  not  a  little  in  the  leading  circles  of  Nonconformist 
influence  in  the  city.  As  with  the  Ayrshire  ploughman  of 
a  century  later,  there  were  men  of  high  social  standing,  and 
fair  women  of  gentle  birth,  who  regarded  with  interest  and 
welcomed  with  hospitality  the  wonderful  Bedfordshire  tinker, 
whose  visions  opened  a  new  world  to  them,  and  whose  preach- 
ing came  like  a  fresh  breeze  from  the  mountains.  In  the 
congregation  of  his  friend  John  Owen,  in  White's  Alley, 
Moorfields,  to  which  Bunyan  sometimes  preached,  there  were 
to  be  found  such  people  as  Lord  Charles  Fleetwood,  Sir  John 
llartopand  his  lady,  Oliver  Cromwell's  brother-in-law,  Colonel 
Desborough,  and  the  great  Protector's  granddaughter,  Mrs. 
Bendish,  so  like  him  both  in  face  and  character.  There  were 
also  Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  Lady  Abncy,  Lady  Vere  Wilkin- 
son, and  the  Countess  of  Anglesey,  besides  eminent  city  mer- 
chants and  people  of  consideration  living  in  some  of  tlic  many 
"  fair  houses  "  of  which  Stow  tells  us  as  then  standing  in  their 
own  gardens,  even  in  the  city  itself.  Through  a  nii.sh'ading 
reference  in  "  Jlllis's  Correspondence  "  the  fact  also  has  been 
preserved  that  Bunyan  stood  in  some  sort  of  close  friendly  rela- 
tion with  the  Jjord  ^layor  of  the  time.  Sir  John  Shorter,  The 
passage  runs  thus: — "  I'Y-w  days  before  died  Jiunian,  his  lord- 
Jihip's  teacher  or  chaplain  ;   a  man  said  to  be  gifted  in  that  way 


384  JOHN  BUNTAK  [chap.  xvt. 

tliougli  once  a  cobler."  *  Of  course  the  Bedfordshire  pastor 
never  was  chaplain  to  the  Lord  Mayor  ;  but  Sir  John  may  well 
have  attended  some  one  of  the  Nonconformist  places  of  worship 
in  which  Bunyan  preached,  and  a  friendship  honourable  to  both 
have  sprung  up  between  them.  Some  of  the  few  personal  relics 
of  the  great  dreamer  which  have  come  down  to  us  through  his 
family  were  probably  the  gift  of  some  of  these  city  friends, 
possibly  even  of  Sir  John  Shorter  himself — the  little  cabinet, 
with  curious  inlaid  work  on  door  and  drawers ;  and  the  staff  of 
the  old  pilgrim,  a  Manilla  cane  with  handsome  ivory  handle 
inlaid  with  silver  circlets  wrought  by  the  cunning  hand  of  an 
Indian  workman,  each  alternate  circlet  having  a  setting  of  mala- 
chite for  its  centre.  Be  that  as  it  may,  some  of  these  London 
hearers  seemed  disposed  to  show  kindness  to  Bunyan's  children 
for  Bunyan's  sake,  one  of  them  offering  to  take  his  son  Joseph 
to  his  business,  without  premium  or  fee,  a  kindly  offer  which, 
however,  was  frustrated  by  Bunyan's  own  scrupulous  feeling, 
which  led  him  to  say  that  God  sent  him  not  to  advance  his 
family  but  to  preach  the  Gospel ;  an  instance  of  other-worldli- 
ness  perhaps  more  consistent  with  the  honour  of  the  father  than 
with  the  prosperity  of  the  son. 

But  if  Bunyan  may  have  occasionally  mingled  with  some  of 
the  great  people  of  the  City  and  had  personal  friends  among 
them,  we  may  be  sure  that  his  heart  was  even  more  entirely 
with  the  great  body  of  godly  people  who  gathered  about  him  in 
the  various  assemblies  of  the  time.  As  to  his  reception  among 
these,  we  have  distinct  testimony  from  his  friend  and  admirer, 
Charles  Doe,  the  comb-maker,  whose  shop  was  close  to  London 
Bridge  on  the  Southwark  side.  Doe  was  a  good,  earnest,  simple 
soul,  who  came  to  know  Bunyan  during  the  last  three  years  of 
his  life  through  hearing  him  preach,  who  followed  him  as  Bos- 
well  followed  Johnson,  and  did  much  after  his  death  to  pre- 
serve his  books  for  the  generations  to  come.  Speaking  of  the 
storm  which  burst  forth  afresh  against  the  Nonconformists  in 
1685—6,  Doe  says  : — 

"  It  was  at  this  time  of  persecution  I  heard  that  Mr.  Bunyaa 
came  to  London  sometimes  and  preached  ;  and  because  of  his  fame, 

*  Ellis  s  Correspondence,  i\.,\Q>\.  Edited  by  the  Hon.  G.  Agar  Ellis.  London: 
1829.  In  the  MSS.  of  the  Trinity  House  Corporation  Sir  John  Shorter  is 
described  as  a  "Merchant  and  owner  of  shipping."     Nov.  23,  1678. 


KIHS.]  JiCXYAX'S  LAST  DAYS.  3S5 

and  I  liaving  read  some  of  his  hooks,  I  had  a  mind  to  lioar  liim. 
And  accordingly  I  did  at  Mr.  More's  meeting  in  a  private  honse  ; 
and  liis  text  was,  'The  fears  of  the  wicked  shall  come  npon  him, 
but  the  desires  of  the  righteous  shall  be  granted.""^'  Ihit  I  Mas 
ott'euded  at  the  text,  because  not  a  New  Testament  one,  for  then  I 
was  veryjealousof  being  cheated  b\-men's  sophisticating  of  Scripture 
to  serve  their  tui'n  or  opinion,  I  being  then  come  into  New  Testa- 
ment light  in  the  love  of  God  and  the  promises,  having  had  enougji 
for  the  present  of  the  historical  and  doing  for  favour  in  the  Old 
Testament.  But  Mr.  Bunyan  went  on,  and  preached  so  New  Testa- 
ment-like that  he  made  mo  admire,  and  weep  for  joy,  and  give  him 
my  affections.  And  he  was  the  first  man  that  ever  I  heard  preach 
to  my  unenlightened  understanding  and  experience,  for  methought 
all  his  sermons  were  adapted  to  my  condition,  and  had  apt  simili- 
tudes, being  full  of  the  love  of  God  and  the  manner  of  its  secret 
working  upon  the  soul,  and  of  the  soul  under  the  sense  of  it,  that 
I  could  weep  for  joy  most  part  of  his  sermons  ;  and  so,  by  a  letter, 
I  introduced  myself  into  his  acquaintance,  and,  indeed,  I  have  not 
since  met  with  a  man  I  have  liked  so  well.  I  was  acquainted  with 
him  but  about  three  years  before  he  died,  and  theu  missed  him 
sorely."  f 

The  days  to  which  Doe  thus  refers  when  the  meetings  were 
held  in  u  private  house  were  days  of  stealth,  but  they  were 
followed  by  the  freer  days  brought  in  by  King  James's  Indul- 
gence, with  their  larger  liberty  of  prophesying  and  crowds  of 
hearers.  It  is  to  these  later  days  of  1G87— 8  that  Doe  makes 
reference  when  he  says  : — 

""When  Mr.  Bunyan  preached  in  London,  if  there  were  but  ono 
day's  notice  given,  there  would  be  more  people  come  together  to 
hear  him  preach  than  the  meeting-house  could  hold.  I  have  seen 
to  hear  him  preach,  by  my  computation,  about  twelve  hundred  at  a 
nitjming  lecture  by  Kovcn  o'clock  on  a  working  day,  in  tlie  dark 
winter-time.  I  also  computed  about  three  thousand  that  came  to 
hear  him  one  Lord's  Day  at  London,  at  a  town's-end  meeting- 
house, so  that  half  were  fain  to  go  back  again  for  want  of  room, 
ttud  then  himself  was  fain  at  a  back-do<jr  to  bo  pulled  almost  over 
people  to  get  upHtairs  to  his  i)ulpit."  I 

•  Thijj  Hcnnoii,  expiiiidfd  for  jjubliaition,  wii«  foiin(i  umi<ii^'  liuiiyiin'n  .MSS. 
tit  his  death,  and  im:lud<d  in  tho  folio  tditiou  of  hia  woik»  of  IG'J'i.  It  i* 
entitled  The  Detirei  of  the  Righteoue  granted. 

t   Kxptrtcncei  of  Charlen  Ilor.      T>mdon  :    1700, 

;    The  Strwj'jUr.     JJy  L"lmrl<.-i»  Doe.      lO'Ji. 

«;c 


3S6  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvi. 

It  has  been  said  that  this  town's-end  meeting-house  was  the  one 
in  Zoar  Street,  South wark  Park,  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  Globe 
Theatre  of  Shakespearian  fame,  Bunyan  may  have  preached  at 
this  place  at  an  occasional  service  or  two,  but  he  could  not  as 
frequently  have  gathered  the  people  here  as  is  sometimes  sup- 
posed, for  the  simple  reason  that  this  meeting-house  was  only 
opened  for  worship  some  six  months  before  his  death,  and  that 
for  Presbyterian  use.* 

With  all  this  marvellous  influence  in  the  city,  which  was  the 
centre  of  his  nation's  life,  it  seems  remarkable  that  Bunyan  was 
never  prevailed  upon  to  leave  the  country-town  where  he  had 
laboured  so  long  for  the  larger  field  of  service  which  seemed 
open  to  him  there.  That  overtures  were  made  to  him  to  this 
end,  is  tolerably  certain  from  the  hint  that  Doe  throws  out  that 
"  he  was  not  a  man  that  preached  by  way  of  bargain  for  money, 
for  he  hath  refused  a  more  plentiful  income  to  keep  his  station." 
To  all  such  overtures  there  was  but  one  reply,  that  of  the 
Shunamite,  "  I  dwell  among  mine  own  people."  He  was  too 
deeply  rooted  in  the  scene  of  his  lifelong  labours  and  sufi'erings 
lightly  to  think  of  striking  his  tent,  till  the  command  came 
from  the  Master  to  come  up  to  the  higher  service  for  which  he 
had  been  ripening  so  long. 

Thus  he  was  no  stranger  to  the  city  to  which  he  was  setting 
out  once  more  in  the  month  of  August,  1688.  His  route  on 
this  occasion  w^as  more  than  usually  circuitous.  Setting  forth 
on  horseback,  he  first  made  a  journey  westward  to  the  town  of 
Reading,  where  also  he  seems  to  have  been  widely  known. 
There  is  no  mention  of  his  previous  connection  with  the  town  in 
his  own  writings  or  by  his  contemporaries,  but  there  are  tradi- 
tions among  the  townspeople  that  in  the  garb  of  a  carter, 
whip  in  hand,  he  came  thither,  in  the  days  of  persecution,  to 
preach.  It  is  said  that  the  place  of  meeting  was  in  a  side  lane 
and  that  from  the  back  door  the  people  had  access  to  a  bridge 
over  a  branch  of  the  river  Kennett,  by  the  kindly  aid  of  which, 
on  the  giving  of  alarm,  they  were  able  to  escape.  On  this  last 
occasion  on  which  he  journeyed  thither  there  was  no  peril  and 
therefore  no  need  for  disguise.  His  errand  this  time  was  two- 
fold, to  preach  the  gospel,  of  course,  but  also  and  mainly  to  be 
*  Wilson's  Dissenting  Churches  of  London,  iv.  188. 


1GS8.] 


BUXYAX'S  LAST  DAYS. 


SSi 


a  peacemaker,  if  he  might  :  "  For  it  so  falling  out,  that  a  j'ouug 
gentleman,  a  neighbour  of  Mr.  liunyan,  happening  into  the 
displeasure  of  his  father  and  being  much  troubled  in  mind  upon 
that  account,  as  also  for  that  he  hud  heard  his  father  proposed, 
to  disinherit  him,  or  otherwise  deprive  him  of  what  he  had  to 
leave,  he  pitched  upon  Mr.  Bun  van  as  a  fit  man  to  make  way 
for  his  submission  and  prepare  his 
father's  mind  to  receive  him  ;  and 
he,  as  willing  to  do  any  good  office 
as  it  could  be  requested,  as  readily 
undertook  it."  His  errand  was 
successfully  accomplished:  "lie 
used  such  pressing  arguments  and 
reasons  against  anger  and  passion, 
as  also  for  love  and  reconcilia- 
tion, that  the  father  was  mollified, 
and  his  bowels  yearned  towards 
his  returning  son." 

Having  thus  made  three  hearts 
glad,  his  own  as  well  as  those  of 
the  estranged  father  and  son, 
liunyan  set  forth  towards  Lon- 
don, carrying  with  him  his  MS. 
on  "  The  l^xcellency  of  a  Broken 
Heart."  Tliis  journey  of  some 
forty  miles  turned  out  to  be  a 
dreary  ride  through  driving  rain, 
at  the  end  of  which  he  found  i^ 
himself  drenched  and  weary  "t  ,^.,,^  ^^^^.^^  ,_^  .,^,,^^.  j,,,^  ,^  ^^,„^,^ 
the  house  of  one  who  is  described  Uvnvan  died. 

by  Charles  Doc  as  his  very  loving  [P'-<»n  an  old  Etching.] 

friend,  John  Strudwick.     Slrud- 

wick  was  a  nmch  y(junger  man  than  Banyan,  being  at  this 
time  aljout  thirty-four,  Ik-  lived  in  a  sinipli;  lour-.storeycd 
building  with  j^able  and  overhanging  chambers  on  Snow  Hill, 
there  carrying  on  the  business  of  a  grocer  under  the  .sign  of  tho 
Star.  In  an  ohl  church  roll  of  Hare  Court,  whither  tho  con- 
gregation (jf  iN-d  Cross  Street  under  George  Cokayn  had 
migrated,    we    find  that    in    \^V.)i,  the   deacons  were  Brother 

cr2 


388  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvr. 

John  Struclwick  and  Brother  Robert  Andrews.*  It  was,  no 
doubt,  through  this  connection  of  his  with  the  church  over 
which  their  mutual  friend  presided  that  Bunyan  and  he  came 
to  know  each  other.  It  would  be  about  the  middle  of  August 
that  he  gave  welcome  to  his  honoured  guest,  for  on  the  19th  of 
that  month  Bunyan  was  preaching  at  Mr.  Gamraan's  meeting, 
near  Whitechapel,  what  proved  to  be  his  last  sermon.  It  was 
on  the  text  John  i.  13,  and  was  shortly  afterwards  printed,  not 
from  any  MS.  of  the  preacher's,  but  from  the  notes  of  some 
hearer  who  was  present.  According  to  this  report  there  was 
one  passage  in  this  sermon  which  was  indeed  the  fitting 
close  to  the  ministry  of  a  man  so  catholic  and  large-hearted 
as  we  know  this  preacher  was.  "Dost  thou,"  said  he,  "  see  a 
soul  that  has  the  image  of  God  in  him  ?  Love  him,  love  him  : 
say.  This  man  and  I  must  go  to  heaven  one  day  ;  serve  one 
another,  do  good  for  one  another ;  and  if  any  wrong  you,  pray 
to  God  to  right  you,  and  love  the  brotherhood."  If  we  may 
trust  this  report,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  w^e  should  not,  the 
last  w  ords  that  John  Bunyan  ever  uttered  from  the  pulpit  were 
words  ihat  nobl}^  expressed  the  spirit  of  his  own  life.  They 
were  these  :  "  Be  ye  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation.  Con- 
sider that  the  holy  God  is  your  Father,  and  let  this  oblige  you 
to  live  like  the  children  of  God,  that  you  may  look  your  Father 
in  the  face  with  comfort  another  day." 

This  was  twelve  days  before  his  death.  In  the  interval 
between  his  arrival  at  John  Strudwick's  house  and  the  appear- 
ance of  dangerous  symptoms  in  his  disease,  he  was  sending 
through  the  press  the  early  sheets  of  his  latest  book,  "  The 
Acceptable  Sacrifice,"  f  showing  the  excellency  of  a  broken 
heart,  and  the  nature,  signs,  and  proper  effects  of  a  contrite 
spirit.  In  this  discourse  upon  a  verse  in  David's  great  peni- 
tential Psalm  (li.  17),  he  speaks  not  from  hearsay,  but  from 
deepest  experience  when  he  says — 

"The  broken  heart  is  hard  to  bear,  for  soul-pain  is  the  sorest 
pain.  "With  such  a  man  God  has  wrestled  and  given  him  a  fall, 
and  now  he  crouches  and  cringes  and  craves  for  mercy  Like  one 
with  a  broken  limb  who  so  far  from  hectoring  it  with  a  man  is 

*  The  Story  of  Hare  Court.     By  J.  B.  Marsh. 

t   Yr  Abcrth  Cymmeradwy.     Caerfyrddin  :   1767.     12nio. 


1 688 . ]  B  UXYAX'  S  LA  ST  DA  YS.  889 

afraid  lest  even  a  child  should  touch  him,  so  he  begs  of  God  to  deal 
with  hiiu  with  tender  hands.  Once  being  at  an  honest  woman's 
house,  I  after  some  pause,  asked  her  how  she  did  ;  very  badly,  was 
her  reply — I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  bo  saved.  Breaking  out  with 
heavy  heart  she  said,  '  Ah  Goodman  Bunyan !  Christ  and  a 
pitcher  ;  if  I  had  Christ  though  I  went  and  begged  my  bread  with 
a  pitcher,  it  would  be  better  with  me  than  I  think  it  is  now.'  Tliis 
woman  had  her  heart  broken,  she  wanted  Christ.  This  cry  of 
Clirist  and  a  pitcher  made  a  melodious  noise  in  the  ears  of  the  very 
angels.  At  tirst  our  pride  is  laid  low.  If  a  num  be  proud  of  his 
strength  or  manhood,  a  broken  leg  will  maul  liim ;  and  if  a  man 
be  proud  of  his  goodness  a  broken  heart  will  maul  him.  Yet  a 
broken  heart  or  a  contrite  spirit  is  a  heaven-sent  blessing.  If  thou 
hast  it  God  is  giving  thee  what  himself  is  pleased  with ;  he  has 
given  thee  a  cabinet  to  hold  his  grace  in,  he  has  given  thee  a 
heart  that  can  heartily  desire  his  salvation,  an  heart  after  his 
own  heart,  that  is,  such  as  suits  his  mind.  True  it  is  painful 
now,  sorrowful  now,  penitent  now,  grieved  now;  now  it  is 
broken,  now  it  bleeds,  now,  now  it  sobs,  now  it  sighs,  now  it 
mourns  and  crieth  unto  God.  "Well,  very  well ;  all  this  is  because 
he  hath  a  mind  to  make  thee  laugh  ;  he  has  made  thee  son-y  on 
earth  that  thou  mightest  rejoice  in  heaven.  Covet  a  broken 
heart,  prize  a  contrite  spirit :  I  say,  covet  it  now,  now  the  white 
Qarr  is  hung  out,  now  the  golden  sceptre  of  grace  is  held  forth  to 
you.  It  is  wounding  work,  of  course,  this  breaking  of  the  hearts, 
but  without  W(juiidiiig  there  is  no  saving.  Conversion  is  not  the 
smooth,  easy-going  process  some  men  seem  to  think  it,  otherwise 
man's  heart  would  never  have  been  compared  to  fallow  ground  and 
God's  word  to  a  plough.  The  fallow  gi-ound  must  be  ploiiglie(l  and 
l)l<nighed,  and  even  after  that  bo  soundly  harrowed,  else  there  will 
be  but  slender  harvest.  To  tlio  same*  purport  is  tliat  other  analogy 
of  grafting,  for  whore  there  is  grafting  there  is  cutting,  the  scion 
mu.st  bo  let  in  with  a  wound  ;  to  stick  on  to  the  outside  or  to  tie  it 
on  with  a  string  would  bo  of  no  use.  Heart  must  be  set  to  heart 
and  back  t(;  back,  or  there  will  be  no  sap  from  root  to  branch,  and 
this,  I  say,  must  bo  done  by  a  wound.  Men  are  too  lofty,  too  proud, 
too  wild,  too  doviliKhly  resolved  in  the  ways  of  their  own  destruc- 
tion. Nothing  will  hinder  them  from  ruining  their  own  precious 
and  immortal  souls  but  the  breaking  of  tlieir  lieails." 

Thu.s,  U8  tills  book  shows,  there  was  a  firm  grip  about  this 
man's  words  to  the  lust.  I'.efore  the  whole  of  the  sheets  were 
through  the  pres.s,  however,  ho  hiinself  was  through   the  gates 


390  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvi. 

of  the  celestial  city.  Overtaken  by  heavy  rains  and  drenched 
to  the  skin  during  his  recent  ride  from  Reading,  he  that  day 
received  his  death-blow.  He  was  no  longer  in  the  vigour  of 
life  ;  at  any  time  he  was  far  from  strong.  In  earlier  years  he 
was  triought  to  have  narrowly  escaped  consumption,  and  later 
his  constitution  must  have  suffered  from  the  unnatural  condi- 
tions of  prison  life.  His  friend  tells  us  that  though  he  was 
only  sixty  he  was  worn  out  with  suflPerings,  age,  and  often 
teaching.  On  the  Tuesday  after  the  Sunday  he  preached  in 
Whitechapel,  he  was  seized  with  what  has  been  variously  de- 
scribed as  a  violent  fever  and  as  the  sweating  distemper,  which 
ran  its  course  for  the  next  ten  days.  All  that  skill  and  love 
could  do  to  arrest  the  mischief  at  work  was  doubtless  done,  but 
done  in  vain.  This  is  all  we  know.  Whether  Elizabeth  Bunyan 
or  any  of  his  children  received  the  news  of  his  illness  in  time 
to  reach  him  and  receive  his  beckoning  of  farewell  before  depar- 
ture, we  know  not.  Possibly  not.  For  at  first  there  would  be 
no  special  alarm  ;  and  then,  as  fears  grew  graver,  it  would  take 
two  days  to  send  tidings  and  two  days  more  to  reach  him.  One 
Avho  was  there,  probably  Strudwick's  pastor  and  Bunyan's 
friend,  George  Cokayn,  tells  us  that  he  bore  his  sufferings 
"  with  much  constancy  and  patience  ;  and  expressed  himself  as 
if  he  desired  nothing  more  than  to  be  dissolved  and  to  be  with 
Christ,  in  that  case  esteeming  death  as  gain,  and  life  only  a 
tedious  delaying  of  felicity  expected  ;  and  finding  his  vital 
strength  decay,  having  settled  his  mind  and  affairs,  as  well  as 
the  shortness  of  his  time  and  the  violence  of  his  disease  would 
admit,  with  a  constant  and  Christian  patience,  he  resigned  his 
soul  into  the  hands  of  his  most  merciful  Redeemer,  following 
his  pilgrim  from  the  City  of  Destruction  to  the  New  Jerusalem  ; 
his  better  part  having  been  all  along  there,  in  holy  contem- 
plation, pantings,  and  breathings  after  the  hidden  manna  and 
water  of  life." 

It  was  on  Friday,  August  31st,  1688,  that  Bunyan  passed 
away,  and  the  sorrowful  tidings  would  reach  his  bereaved 
Church  at  Bedford  about  the  time  they  were  gathering  for 
their  Sunday  services.  The  following  entry  in  the  Church  Book 
throws  some  light  on  their  feeling  at  this  time  of  parting : — 

*'  "Wednesday  4th  of  September  was  kept  in  prayre  and  hnmilya- 
tion  for  this  Heavy   Stroak  upon  us,   y""  Death  of  deare  Brother 


1688]  1}^XTA^'''S  LAST  DAYS.  391 

Bunyan.     Apojnted  also  tliat  Wednesday  next  be  kept  in  prairo 
and  humiliation  on  the  same  Account." 

At   this  second  meeting   on    the  lltli  it  was  determined    to 
spend  that  day  week  also  in  the  same  sorrowful  way : — 

''ApojTited  that  all  y"  Brethren  meet  together  on  the  18th  of 
this  month  Sept'.,  to  Humble  themselves  for  this  Heavy  hand  of  God 
upon  us.  And  also  to  pray  unto  y'^  Lord  for  Counsell  and  Direction 
what  to  do  in  order  to  seek  out  for  A  fitt  person  to  make  choyce  of 
for  an  Elder."  "Tuesday  y*  18th  was  the  whole  congregation 
mett  to  Humble  themselves  before  God  by  Ifasting  and  prayre  for 
his  Ilevy  and  Sevear  Stroak  upon  us  in  takeing  away  our  Honoured 
Brother  Bunyan  by  death." 

The  orchard  round  the  place  of  meeting  where  Bunyan 
preached  in  P>edford  had,  since  1G81,  been  used  as  a  place  for 
the  burial  of  their  dead.  Curiously  enough  there  are  the  fol- 
lowing three  entries  and  no  more  relating  to  this  place,  where 
we  should  least  expect  to  find  them,  in  the  parish  register  of 
St.  Paul's  Church  :— * 

•  In  the  came  year  Bunyjin  began  to  keep  a  record  of  the  deaths  of  the  mrm- 
bors  of  the  Church.  Only  one  leaf  remains,  which  contains  tlio  names  of  all 
who  died  between  November  10th,  1681,  and  March  2l8t,  1688.  After  this 
another  rej^ister  comm<nced  which  seems  to  have  been  lost.  The  entries  in 
Uuiiyun's  handwriting  usually  record  simijly  name  and  date,  but  the  following 
are  expressive  of  special  regard  : — 

"Upon  the  tenth  of  November,  '81,  our  aged  and  honoured  Brother,  John 

SewsttT,  departed  this  life. 
•*  Upon  the  twelfth  of  November,  '81,  our  honoured  brother,  Samuel  (Tenn, 

one  of  the  Elders  of  this  Congregation,  departed  this  life. 
"  Upon  the  twenty-seventh  of  November,  '81,   our  sister   Bunyan,  in   the 

parish  of  Northill,  dii)artod  this  life. 
"  1682.  Upon  the  3rd  day  of  August  our  honoured  sister,  Joan  Coveington, 
departed  this  life." 
There  are  al»o  further  entries  relating  to  "  our  honoured  sister  Hill,"   '■  our 
much  bt-lovcd   sister    Sansom,"    "our    aged   brother   Kdw.    Covcnton,"    "our 
beloved  slBt«,-r  Fenn,"  and,  in  another  liaiul,  to  "  our  Ilonourt'd  Brother  Olyver 
8<-ott.  one  of  y*  preachers  of  this  congregation,"  who  died  Ajiril  21,  1()87.     The 
Ni.ttt-r    Bunyan,    whoso   death    Bunyan    records,    was  the    wife    of  his    brother 
'l"homa«.     In  the  register  of  the  parish  of  Northill,  where  lie  lived,  there  aro  the 
following  entri>!H  relating  to  Thomas's  son  John,  his  wif<>,  and   liimsi'lf.     TltUMU 
names  occur  among  the  aliidiivita  relating  to  those  buried  in  Woolh  n  : — 
*' Buri<d  John  Hyniun,  Sept.  3,  1079. 
Klizabeth  Bynian,  Nov.  21*.  1081. 
Thomas  Bunnian,  dyed  Jan.  6,  1G96." 
An  there  are  no  other  entri<-H  relating  to  the  Bunynn*  of  Northill,  it  is  probable 
that  by  the  death  of  his  only  son,  Thomiu  Biinyan'h  family  became  extinct. 


392  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvi. 

"1681.  Buried  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  John  Herring,  at  the  Meeting 
Barne,  Nov.  11th. 

"  1681.  Buried  John  Sewster,  at  the  Meeting  Barne,  Nov.  13. 

"Buried  Samuel  Fenn  y^  elder,  att  y^  Meeting  Barne,  JSTov. 
y''  14th." 

This  last  entry  relates  to  Bunyan's  predecessor  and  former 
colleague  in  the  ministry  at  Bedford  ;  and,  in  the  ordinary 
course,  Bunyan  would  probably  have  been  laid  beside  him  ; 
but,  dying  as  he  did  in  London,  the  removal  of  his  body  to 
the  scene  of  his  ministry  would,  in  those  days,  have  entailed  a 
journey  too  long  and  too  costly  to  be  thought  of.  Therefore, 
after,  no  doubt,  many  a  brotherly  reference  to  his  departure,  in 
the  Sunday  gatherings  of  the  congregations  to  whom  his  face 
was  known  so  well,  all  that  was  mortal  of  him  was,  on  the 
Monday,  reverently  laid  in  John  Strud wick's  vault  in  Bunhill 
Fields. 

Following  Southey,  many  writers  have  called  this  place  of 
burial  the  Campo  Santo  of  the  Dissenters.  This  it  was ;  but 
it  was  by  no  means  confined  to  them.  Many  Roman  Catholics 
were  buried  here,  so  were  members  of  the  National  Church. 
The  site  was  originally  part  of  a  famous  fen  or  moor,  de- 
scribed, in  early  times,  as  watering  the  walls  of  London  on  the 
north,  Moorfields  and  Fensbury  or  Finsbury  Fields,  preserving 
the  remembrance  in  the  name.  In  the  sixteenth  century  there 
appertained  to  the  manor  of  Finsbury  Farm,  three  great  fields 
known  as  Bonhill,  the  Mallow,  and  the  High  Field,  "  where 
the  three  windmills  stand."  The  Bonhill  field  was  consecrated 
as  early  as  1549,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the  vast  quan- 
tities of  human  remains  which  were  removed  that  year  from  the 
charnel  house  of  St.  Paul's.  In  1665  it  was  used  as  a  place  of 
burial  for  those  who  died  of  the  Great  Plague,  and  was  then, 
in  an  inscription  placed  over  the  western  gate,  described  as  a 
churchyard.  After  that  it  was  enclosed  by  a  brick  wall  at  the 
sole  charge  of  the  City,  and  that  it  was  regarded  as  a  conse- 
crated place  of  sepulture  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  two  years 
before  Bunyan's  death  a  funeral  was  celebrated  there  in  which 
Tillotson,  then  dean,  and  Stillingfleet,  one  of  the  canons  of  St. 
Paul's,  took  part ;  and  that  subsequently  a  clergyman  of  the 
Church  was  appointed  as  chaplain.  Still,  as  being  a  burial- 
ground  separate  from  any  ecclesiastical  building,  it  was  the  one 


168S.]  liUXYAX'S  LAST  DAYS.  393 

most  frequently  made  use  of  by  the  Xoneonformists.  Of  these 
Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin,  who  was  with  Cromwell  on  his  death- 
bed, and  who  died  in  1679,  was  the  first  person  of  eminenco 
among  those  buried  there  ;  he  was  followed  in  1683  by  John 
Owen,  and  five  years  later  by  John  Bunyan.  Among  other 
names  recorded  here  and  memorable  in  the  annals  of  Non- 
conformit}'  are  those  of  Watts  and  Williams  and  the  mother 
of  the  Wesleys,  Neal  and  Morrice  and  Bradbury,  Doolittlo 
and  Vincent  and  Gale,  with  a  long  succession  of  others  who 
did  their  work  and  made  their  mark  in  the  century  before 
our  own.  There  are  also  other  names  celebrated  in  other 
ways — those  of  Ritson  the  antiquary,  and  Blake  the  painter, 
of  Hardy  and  Ilorne  Tooke,  of  Nathaniel  Lardner  and 
Abraham  Rees.  Nor  must  we  pass  by  that  of  Thomas 
Stotbard,  the  painter.  He  is,  perhaps,  most  widely  known 
by  his  picture  of  the  "  Canterbury  Pilgrims,"  but  there  are 
not  a  few  who  think  that  some  of  his  best  work  is  to  be 
found  in  his  illustrations  to  the  two  most  popular  of  English 
books,  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress"  and  "  Robinson  Crusoe."  It 
is  fitting,  therefore,  that  here  he  should  lie,  as  he  does,  side  by 
side  with  the  writers  of  the  books  themselves,  his  dust  mingling 
with  that  of  John  Bunyan  and  Daniel  Defoe. 

There  is  no  entry  in  the  register  of  Bunyan's  burial,  and 
when  Curll  published  his  Bunhill  Fields  Inscription  in  1717,  or 
Strype  his  edition  of  Stowe  in  17'J0,  tliero  was  no  record  of  his 
name  on  the  grave.  In  17''>7  John  Strudwick's  son-in-law,  the 
Rev.  liobert  Br.igge,  was  buried  in  the  same  vault,  and  it  was 
then,  probably,  that  for  the  first  time  the  names  of  the  dead 
within  were  inscribed  upon  the  tablet  without.  A  contributor 
U)Xot(Hand  Queries  for  1864,  who  signed  himself  II.  J.  S., 
writes:  "I  have  just  discovered,  in  the  handwriting  of  Dr. 
Ricliard  Rawlinson,  LL.D.,  a  copy  of  the  inscription  which 
formtrly  existed  on  the  tonil)  in  which  was  interred  the  author 
of  the  '  Pilgrim's  Progress  ' :  — 

"  Hero  ly«'H  th(5  body  of  Mr.  John  Bunynn,  Author  of  thn  '  Pil- 
f,'riiii'H  I'ro^TCMM,'  \i\ri-([  ^i\),  wlio  dyed  Au(^.  17.  KJKS. 

"  Ilore  lif.H  tin;  l>(*(ly  «)f  Mr.  J(jlin  Siiuduirk.  ugud  43  years,  who 
dyed  the  l.Otli  uuy  of  Jim  ,  in')7. 

"  Aluo  the  body  of  Mth.  I'hojbo  Brugge,  who  died  the  l.^th  July, 
1718. 


394  JOUN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xti. 

"Here  also  lies  the  body  of  the  Eev.  Rob.  Bragge,  Minister  of 
the  Qospel,  who  departed  this  life  Feb.  12,  1737,  i^tatis  72." 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  date  of  Bunyan's  death,  thus  given, 
is  August  17th,  while  the  writer  of  the  continuation  of  the 
"  Grace  Abounding,"  gives  it  as  August  12th.  As  Bunyan 
preached  his  last  sermon  on  the  19th  of  August  and  was 
seriously  ill  for  ten  days  before  his  death,  these  dates  are  evi- 
dently from  memory  and  manifestly  wrong.  The  date  given 
by  Charles  Doe  is  the  31st  of  August,  and  as  the  sorrowful 
meeting  of  the  Bedford  Church  was  held  on  the  4th  September 
and  would  naturally  follow  immediately  upon  the  receipt  of  the 
tidings  of  his  death,  this  date  is  undoubtedly  correct. 

The  vault  in  which  Bunyan  was  laid  would  appear  to  have 
been  a  new  sepulchre  at  the  time  it  was  opened  for  him,  and 
was  then  probably  first  purchased  by  John  Strudwick  for  his 
honoured  guest.  For  though  eventually  eleven  persons  altogether 
were  buried  there,  the  dates  of  the  burial  of  the  rest  were  all 
subsequent  to  1688.""  No  writer  of  the  time,  not  even  Charles 
Doe,  who  would  almost  certainly  be  present,  has  given  us  any 
account  of  the  funeral  of  the  great  Englishman  who  was  thus 
laid  to  rest  in  the  sepulchre  of  another,  faraway  from  his  family 
and  the  church  he  had  served  so  long.  Possessed  of  more  than 
national  fame  as  author,  preacher,  and  confessor  of  the  truth, 
he  would  probably  receive  more  than  usual  demonstration  of 
respect  and  affection  as  he  was  borne  to.  his  resting-place, 
the  procession  passing  from  Snow  Hill  and  through  the  midst 
of  the  pleasant  gardens  which  lay  between  Aldersgate  and 
Bunhill  Fields.  This  would  have  been  in  accordance  with 
the  custom  of  the  time.  Unusual  demonstrations  were  some- 
times made  at  the  burial  of  illustrious  Nonconformists  even 
in  those  days  of  trial.  Men  of  rank  who  had  still  a  secret 
love  for  "  the  good  old  cause,"  came  forth  on  such  occasions 
to  manifest  the  regard  they  felt.  When,  for  instance,  John 
Owen  was  buried  in  Bunhill  Fields,  the  procession  from  St. 

*  The  tomb  was  numbered  E.  and  W.  25,  26— N.  and  S.  26,  27.  The  persons 
>iuried  there  were — John  Bunyan,  John  Strudwick,  Phoebe  Bragge,  Robert 
Biagge,  Theophilus  Brugge,  Anne  Jennion,  Sarah  Poole,  Anne  Holyhead, 
Elizabeth  Jennings,  John  Long,  l^jrisign  Jcseph  Jennings  Poole. — Bunhil 
Memorials.     By  T.  A.  Jones.     1S4'J. 


1 688. 1  B  UNYAN'  S  LA  ST  DA  VS.  395 

James's,  whither  the  body  hud  been  brought  from  Eiling, 
was  attended  by  the  carriages  of  sixty-seven  noblemen  and 
gentlemen,  besides  many  mourning  coaches  and  persons  on 
horseback.  So,  again,  in  the  case  of  William  Jenkyn,  another 
of  the  lecturers  at  Pinners'  Hall.  Though  dying  as  a  prisoner 
in  Xewgate  in  1G85,  he  was  buried  with  the  greatest  honours  in 
Bunhill  Fields,  his  remains  being  followed  thither  by  his  friends 
in  a  hundred  and  fifty  coaches.  And  though  no  demonstra- 
tion so  imposing  as  this  has  been  recorded  of  the  great  Dreamer, 
yet  his  literary  renown  and  his  great  reputation  in  the  City  as 
a  preacher  would  doubtless  gather  great  numbers  to  the 
sorrowful  scene.  As  George  Cokayn,  who,  as  Bunyan's  lifelong 
friend  and  John  Strudwick's  pastor,  would  almost  certainly 
conduct  the  funeral  service,  tells  us  :  "  He  was  removed  to  the 
great  loss  and  unspeakable  grief  of  many  precious  souls."  And 
some  of  them,  no  doubt,  were  thereto  express  their  grief  and  sliow 
their  regard.  But  while  many  were  there,  one  well-known 
and  powerful  friend  was  absent.  For  that  day  the  Lord  Mayor, 
Sir  John  Shorter,  was  himself  a  dying  man.  On  the  previous 
Thursday  he  was  thrown  from  his  horse,  near  Newgate,  when  on 
his  return  from  proclaiming  according  to  custom  Bartholomew 
Fair,  and  was  picked  up,  fatally  injured,  some  three  minutes' 
walk  from  John  Strudwick's  house,  where  at  that  very  time 
Bunvan  lav  dvinjr.  The  sad  news  of  this  calamity  which  had 
overtaken  his  friend  was  probably  the  last  piece  of  intelligence 
which  reached  the  departing  Pilgrim  in  this  world.  On  the 
Tuesday  after  that  Friday  on  whicli  Bunyan  went  home  to  be 
with  God,  Sir  John  followed  him  across  the  river. 

The  loss  of  two  such  men  at  one  stroke  was  great.  The 
times  were  anxious.  During  those  very  days  the  Nonconformists 
were  eagerly  looking  for  tidings,  from  across  the  seas,  of  the 
I'rincc  of  Orange.  It  was  the  .'Jrd  Stptembcr;  on  the  21st 
George  Cokayn,  sending  forth  the  untlnished  book  Punyau 
had  left  in  his  charge,  wrote  thus  in  tlie  preface : — 

"  Wlio  knows  wliat  will  bccoino  of  tin-  ark  of  Ciod  !  Thoroforo 
it  is  a  hcuHonahlo  duty  with  old  JOli  lu  hit  trt-nihlinp:  for  it.  Do  wo 
not  alHo  li<;ar  the  sound  of  tin*  trumpot.  tho  ulariu  of  wars?  Mercy 
and  judgment  uoom  to  bo  htniKgli«'g  in  tlio  muno  wouib  of  I'rovi- 
dence,  and  whicli  will  corao  out  (irst  wo  know  not.'* 


396 


JOHN  BUNYAN. 


f  CHAP.  XVI. 


Such  was  the  feeling  of  that  eventful  time,  such  the  anxieties 
added  to  the  sorrows  of  parting.  Many  of  those  standing  round 
that  open  grave  in  Bunhill  Fields  had  come  through  rough  and 
stormy  experiences  of  bonds  and  imprisonment,  as  had  the 
brother  beloved  whom  they  were  laying  to  rest.  Even  yet 
they  knew  not  but  that  the  storm  might  still  burst  forth  afresh 
as  it  had  so  many  times  before.  His  deliverance  had  come — 
not  from  the  Prince  acress  the  seas,  but  from  the  King  of 
Kings.  And  theirs — was  it  near  or  far  oflf?  Nearer  than 
they  thought.  The  sixty  eventful  years  between  John  Bunyan's 
birth  in  1628  and  his  death  in  1688 — that  is,  between  the 
Petition  of  Right  and  the  Great  Revolution — were  reaching 
their  end.  A  new  era  was  dawning  even  while  they  were 
fearing — an  era  of  liberty.  Not  many  days  now,  and  the  last 
Stuart  King  would  have  fled,  and  religious  intolerance,  if  not 
dead — for  it  dies  hard — should  yet  have  received  such  reeling 
blow  as  to  make  the  return  of  such  times  to  England  as  had 
been,  a  thing  no  bigot  need  hope  for,  no  lover  of  freedom  need 
fear. 


iJL'NYAN's  Tomb  in  Bunhill  Fields. 


XVII. 

BUNYAN'S  DESCENDANTS  AND  SUCCESSORS. 

Bl>yan  was  two  months  short  of  completing  his  sixtieth  year 
when  he  was  unexpectedly  called  away  from  his  life  of  active 
service  to  the  Church.  lie  was  not  an  old  man,  therefore, 
counting  by  years,  though  somewhat  worn  and  beaten  by  the 
storms  of  time.  Three  contemporary  portraits  of  him,  taken 
in  later  life,  remain  to  us — an  oil  picture  by  Sadler  of  1685,  the 
engraving  by  Sturt  of  1G92,  and  the  pencil  sketch  by  Robert 
White,  on  which  were  based  his  engraved  portraits  of  1679  and 
1682. 

The  painting  of  1685  by  Sadler  was.  so  far  as  we  know, 
first  engraved  by  Simpson  in  1767.  This  engraving  was  in  the 
heaviest  possible  style,  and  formed  the  frontispiece  to  the  folio 
edition  of  Bunyan's  works,  publislied  by  Johnston,  with  a  pre- 
face by  George  AVhitefleld.  About  1780,  also,  this  portrait 
was  reproduced  in  mezzotint  by  Richard  Houston,  and  pub- 
lished by  Caringlon  Bowles,  the  well-known  print-seller  of  St. 
Raul's  Churchyard.  Three  years  later  it  was  admirably  engraved 
in  small  oval  by  T.  E.  I  laid,  and  subsequently  also  by  Spils- 
bury.  On  the  engraving  by  Simpson  it  is  stated  that  tlie 
original  j)ainting  was  then  in  the  possession  of  Henry  Stimson, 
gent.  This  is  probably  the  portrait  of  Bunyan  sent  to  tho 
Loan  Exhibition  ut  South  Kensington  in  1866,  by  the  Rev. 
John  Olive,  reclf)r  of  Ayott,  and  which  is  now  in  tho  possession 
of  Lord  Kilcoursic  at  Wheathampstead.  There  are  two  copies 
ot  it,  indilfercntly  executed,  but  apparently  old,  one  at  Not- 
tingham, llie  other  at  St.  Neots. 

Sturt's  engraving,  j)relixed  t<;  tiie  iirst  folio  edition  of 
Bunyan's  works,  publislied  in  16li2,  was  taken  from  u  painting 
which,  if  btill  in  cxiHtence,  is  not  known.  it  i.s  somewiiat 
vigorously    execut<'<i,     Ituf      Imrsli    and     uuidca.sing.       Other 


398  JOHN  BUN YAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

copies  from  the  same  plate  were  also  prefixed  to  the  later 
edition  of  1736-7.  Charles  Doe,  describing  this  engraving  in 
1692,  says  of  it :  "  His  effigies  was  cut  in  copper,  from  an 
original  paint,  done  to  the  life,  by  his  very  good  friend,  a 
Limner."      But  who  this  limner  was  he  does  not  tell  us. 

The  third  portrait  of  Bunyan,  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  was  the  earliest  of  all,  and  probably  the  most  life-like, 
certainly  the  most  expressive  of  the  three.  It  is  simply  a  pencil 
sketch  on  vellum,  by  E,obert  White,  and  was  taken  thus  pre- 
liminary to  the  engraved  sleeping  portrait  prefixed  by  him  to  the 
third  edition  of  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  published  in  1679,  and 
which  was,  indeed,  the  first  of  the  many  illustrations  that  book 
has  received.  The  same  sketch  also  formed  the  basis  of  the 
full-length  portrait  given  with  the  first  edition  of  the  "  Holy 
War  "  in  1682,  and  in  which  Bunyan  appears  as  the  typical 
Mansoul,  with  Shaddai's  army  on  the  one  side  and  the  forces  of 
Diabolus  on  the  other.  Perhaps  no  artist  ever  issued  more 
portraits  of  his  eminent  contemporaries  than  did  Robert  White, 
who  was  at  work  in  this  way  for  more  than  forty  years.  Vertue 
collected  the  names  of  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
portraits  by  him,  all  of  which  are  the  prizes  of  the  antiquary 
and  the  art-collector.  As  a  mere  youth  he  was  remarkable 
lor  his  power  of  drawing  and  etching,  and  was  early  placed 
under  the  instruction  of  Loggan,  whom  he  rivalled  in  the 
delicacy  and  correctness  of  his  likenesses.  He  is  described  as 
possessing  "a  wonderful  power  to  take  the  air  of  a  face." 
Before  engraving  a  portrait  he  usually  drew  a  sketch  in  pencil 
from  the  life,  which  he  did  with  marvellous  rapidity  and  power. 
Yertue  thought  some  of  these  pencil  sketches  even  superior  to 
liis  prints.*  The  one  thus  taken  of  Bunyan,  on  a  strip  of 
vellum — about  six  inches  by  four — was  fortunately  preserved, 
and  fell  into  the  possession  of  the  Pev.  Clayton  M.  Cracherode, 
who  died  in  1799,  bequeathing  his  splendid  collection  to  the 
British  ^luseum,  where  this  portrait  of  Bunyan  may  now  be 
seen.  It  has  been  reproduced  with  great  care  as  the  frontis- 
piece to  this  volume,  by  Mr.  Edward  AVhymper. 

We  shall  get  the  best  idea  of  the  personal  appearance  of 
Bunyan    if  we   take  this    sketch    of    White's    and   read    side 
*  Dallaway's  Walpole,  Bolin's  Edition,  lb49,  iii.,  947. 


1688.]  BU-yrJX'SDESCEXBAXTS  AXD  SUCCESSORS.  309 

by  side  with   it   that  othei-  sketch  from  the   pen  of   the   con- 
temporary we  have  more    than   once   supposed  to   be  George 

Cokavn  :  — 

» 

"As  ^ur  his  person,  ho  was  tall  of  statiu'e,  strong-boned,  thoufjli 
not  corpulent,  somewhat  of  a  ruddy  face,  with  sparklinfj^  eyes, 
wearinfj  his  hair  on  his  upper  Hp,  after  the  old  liritish  fashion  ;  his 
hair  reddish,  but  in  his  latter  days  time  had  sprinkled  it  with  grey; 
his  nose  well  set,  but  not  declining  or  bending,  and  his  month 
moderately  large ;  his  forehead  something  high,  and  his  habit 
always  plain  and  modest." 

In  addition  to  this,  John  Wilson,  who  bad  been  his  companion 
and  fellow-sufferer  for  many  years,  tells  us  that :  — 

"His  countenance  was  grave  and  sedate,  and  did  so  to  the  hfe 
discover  the  inward  frame  of  his  heart,  that  it  was  convincing  to  the 
bt'holders  and  did  strike  something  of  awe  into  them  that  had 
nothing  of  the  fear  of  God." 

Passing  from  the  outer  to  the  inner  man,  George  Cokavn 
tells  us  also  that :  — 

"IIo  appeared  in  countenance  to  be  of  a  stern  and  rough  temper, 
but  in  his  conversation  mild  and  affable,  not  given  to  loqmicity  oi- 
much  discourse  in  company,  unless  some  urgent  occasion  required 
it ;  observing  never  to  boast  of  himself  or  his  parts,  but  rather 
seem  low  in  his  own  eyes  and  sul>mit  himself  to  the  judgment  of 
others;  abhorring  l^ing  and  swearing,  being  just  in  all  that  lay  in 
his  power  to  his  word,  not  seeming  to  revenge  injuries,  loving  to 
reconcile  differences,  and  make  friendhhip  with  all;  he  had  a  sharj*, 
quick  eye,  accompli>shed  with  an  excellent  discerning  of  persons, 
being  of  good  judgment  and  (juick  wit." 

To  the  portraiture  thus  given  Jolin  Wilson  adds  this  : — 

"  Give  us  leave  to  say  his  natural  parts  and  abilities  wore  not  nii  an. 
Ids  fancy  and  invention  wore  very  pregnant  and  fertib';  his  wit  was 
^liarp  and  quick;  his  memory  tenacious,  it  being  customary  witli 
iiiin  U)  commit  his  sermons  to  writing  after  lie  had  preiicliecl  them, 
ilis  underhtamling  wus  large  ami  <;omprehenhive,  his  jutlgment 
-ound  and  deep  in  the  fundamentals  of  the  (.i«ispel.  A  rich  anoint- 
ing of  the  Spirit  was  upon  liim,  yet  this  groat  saint  wa.s  always  in 
his   own    pyes  the  cliiofest    of    /iinners    and    the    least    of    saints ; 


400  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

esteeming-  any,  where  he  did  believe  the  Truth  of  Grace,  better 
than  himself.  He  was  not  only  well  furnished  with  the  helps  and 
endowments  of  nature  beyond  ordinary,  but  eminent  in  the  graces 
and  gifts  of  the  Spirit  and  fruits  of  holiness.  He  was  a  true  lover 
of  all  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  and  did  often  bewail  the  different 
and  distinguishing  appellations  that  are  among  the  godly,  saying, 
he  did  believe  a  time  would  come  when  they  should  be  all  buried. 
His  carriage  was  condescending,  affable  and  meek  to  all ;  yet  bold 
and  couragious  for  Christ's  and  the  gospel's  sake.  He  was  much 
struck  at  in  the  late  times  of  persecution  and  his  sufferings  were 
great,  under  all  which  he  behaved  himself  like  Christ's  soldier, 
being  far  from  any  sinful  compHance  to  save  himself,  but  did  chear- 
fully  bear  the  cross  of  Christ.  As  a  minister  of  Christ  he  was  labo- 
rious in  his  work  of  preaching,  diligent  in  his  preparation  for  it  and 
faithfiil  in  dispensing  the  word,  not  sparing  reproof  for  outward 
circumstances  whether  in  the  pulpit  or  no,  yet  ready  to  succour  the 
tempted  ;  a  son  of  consolation  to  the  broken-hearted,  yet  a  son  of 
thunder  to  secure  and  dead  sinners. 

"  He  was  full  of  zeal  and  affection  at  all  times  (according  to  know- 
ledge), more  especially  at  his  administration  of  the  Lord's  supper, 
it  was  observable  that  tears  came  from  his  eyes  in  abundance,  from 
the  sense  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  that  are  in  that  ordinance 
shadowed  forth.  As  a  pastor,  also,  he  was  useful  by  the  accuracy 
of  his  knowledge  in  church-discipline,  and  readiness  to  put  that  in 
practice  in  the  Church  (as  occasion  offered),  which  he  saw  was 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God,  whether  admonition  or  excommunica- 
tion, or  making  up  differences  or  filling  up  vacancies  or  paring  off 
excrescencies.  And  as  he  was  useful  to  that  Church,  so  to  the  whole 
countrey  round  and  to  other  churches  where  he  did  frequently  spend 
his  labours. 

"  His  death  was,  and  is  much  lamented  for  that  reason ;  as  also 
because  it  was  somewhat  sudden,  and  he  from  home  at  that  time. 
His  remembrance  is  sweet  and  refreshing  to  many  and  so  will 
continue :  For  the  righteous  shall  be  had  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance."* 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  Bunyan  left  no  great  store  of  worldly 
wealth  behind  him.  For  though  his  books  had  so  large  a  sale 
even  in  his  own  lifetime,  either  they  were  not  productive  of 
much  material  wealth  to  their  author,  or  we  must  accept  the 
explanation  given  by  his  friend  to  the  effect  that  "  by  reason  of 

*  Epistle  to  the  Header,  "Works,  1692. 


16S8  ]    BrXTAX'S  DESCEXDAXTS;  Jj-  SVCCESSOIiS.     -lOl 

the  many  losses  he  sustained  by  imprisonment  and  spoil,  of  his 
chargeable  sickness,  S^'C,  his  earthly  treasure  swelled  not  to 
excess."  Certainly  the  return  given  in  the  Book  of  Adminis- 
trations *  shows  an  estate  of  very  modest  proportions  indeed. 
The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  document : — 

"  Bedd  :  17  Oct.  1688.  Administration  of  the  Goods  of  John  Bunjan 
of  the  said  Town,  deceased,  was  granted  to  Elizabeth  Bunyan, 
Eelict  of  the  said  deceased  and  to  Tho.  Woodward,  of  Bed- 
ford, Maidtster  and  AVm.  NiclioUs  of  the  same  place,  Draper, 
being  under  £100.  By  order  of  the  Commissary  of  the 
Court. 

"Sum  of  Inventory  £42  IDs.  Od." 

This  amount  would  be  equal  to  about  £150  in  present  value. 
Upon  this  and  the  yearly  income  from  his  publications  Elizabeth 
Bunyan  lived  on  at  Bedford  during  the  year  and  a  half  which 
was  all  that  she  survived  her  husband.  She  died  in  the  early 
part  of  1601,t  "  following  her  faithful  pilgrim  from  this  world 
to  the  other,  whither  he  was  gone  before  her." 

Bunyan  had  six  children  ;  four  of  these,  Mary,  Elizabeth, 
John,  and  Thomas  being  born  to  him  by  his  first  wife,  the 
remaining  two,  Sarah  and  Joseph,  by  his  second  wife.  Ilis 
eldest  daughter,  Mary,  his  blind  child,  died  before  him,  tho 
rest  surviving.  His  eldest  son,  John,  was  brouglit  up  to  the 
ancestral  trade  of  a  brazier,  and  carried  on  business  in  the  town 
till  his  death  in  1728.  He  appears  to  have  made  no  open  pro- 
fession of  religion  during  his  father's  lifetime,  but  was  received 
to  the  fellowsljip  of  tho  Church  some  five  years  alter  his  father's 
death,  on  the  27th  of  June,  1G03.  There  is  no  furtlier  mention 
of  him  in  the  Church  records  till  seven  years  later,  when  wo 
find  him  sent  to  visit  those  who  had  come  under  tlie  discipline 
of  the  Church.  Brother  Bunyan  was  sent,  for  example,  along 
with  Brother  Fenn  to  confer  with  Brother  Butcher,  "  his  sins 
being  drunkenness,  card-playing,  and  light,  unbecoming  actions 

•   H'-giHtry  of  tho  Arch<loaconry  of  Bedford. 

t  ITio  writer  of  tho  Cotitimmlion  of  tho  Graet  Ahoundiny  (uiyii  tlmt  Eli/iiboth 
r.iinyMn  di> -1  in  1002, but  in  tho  folio  iiiil.liNlM<l  in  IfiOi.  Churl,  m  Doo  HuyH,  lOlt'/  ; 
and  ho  whm  at  that  tifn<r  in  <loi»o  corn-ttiKiml'iKO  with  liiuiyim'H  family,  waH  occu- 
iiionully  down  at  liodfurd  bi-twoun  1G8M  and  1002,  and  would  thoreforo  bo  likuly 
to  know. 

I)  I) 


402  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

about  Stool  Ball,  and  the  May  Pole."  On  similar  service  he 
was  sent  eight  or  nine  times  between  1700  and  1719,  after  which 
there  is  no  farther  mention  of  his  name.  In  the  records  of  the 
Bedford  Corporation  we  find  the  following  entry  relating  to  him : 
"  1705.  May  11.  It  is  agreed  that  John  Bunian  shall  have  a 
lease  of  a  messuage  abutting  westward  upon  Duck  Lane  [a  lane 
no  longer  in  existence,  leading  from  Mill  Lane  to  Lurk  Lane], 
with  backside  and  appurtenances,  late  let  to  Katherine  Ridg- 
ment,  to  be  for  eleven  years  from  Michaelmas  next  at  twelve 
shillings  per  ann.,  with  the  usual  covenants."  Again,  under 
date  April  20th,  1716,  it  was  ordered  that  John  Bunian's  lease 
be  renewed  for  eleven  years.  His  will,  which  was  written  out 
for  him  and  attested  by  his  father's  successor,  Ebenezer  Chand- 
ler, is  in  existence  in  the  district  registry,  and  seems  to  indi- 
cate that,  as  he  left  all  he  had  to  his  grand-daughter,  Hannah 
Bunyan,  and  made  her  sole  executrix  of  his  will,  neither  wife 
nor  child  of  his  survived  him.  This  will,  which  was  dated 
December  13th,  1728,  and  proved  the  following  month,  is  as 
follows : — 

''  In  the  name  of  God  Amen.  I  John  Bunyan  of  Bedford  in  the 
County  of  Bedford,  Brazier,  being  well  in  body  and  of  sound  mind 
and  memory,  Praised  be  God,  do  mak*3  and  ordain  my  last  Will 
and  Testament  in  manner  following.  That  is  to  say  I  give,  devise 
and  bequeath  to  my  granddaughter,  Hannah  Bunyan  whom  I  have 
brought  up  from  a  child  and  who  now  lives  with  me,  my  house 
in  the  parish  of  St.  Cuthbert's  wherein  Joseph  Simonds  the  younger 
now  lives,  with  the  outhouses,  yard,  garden  and  all  the  appurte- 
nances thereto  belonging,  to  her  and  her  heirs  for  ever.  Item  I 
give  to  her  my  said  granddaughter  the  lease  of  the  House  I  live 
in  and  all  the  rest  of  my  personal  estate,  goods  and  chattels, 
ready  money,  debts,  household  goods  and  the  implements  or  utensils 
of  trade  and  all  my  stock-in-trade,  All  these  I  give  to  my  said 
granddaughter  Hannah  Bunyan,  she  paying  all  my  just  debts  and 
Funeral  expenses.  And  I  constitute  and  appoint  the  said  Hannah 
Bunyan  whole  and  sole  executrix  of  this  my  last  Will  and  Testa- 
ment."*'' 

It  would  appear  from  this  will  that  the  house  in  St.  Cuth- 
bert's, in  which  the  writer  of  the  '*'  Pilgrim's  Progress "   had 

*  Bedfordshire  Wills,  1729. 


1692.]     JiUXYAX^S  DESCENDANTS  ^  SUCCESSODS.     403 

lived,  had  become  his  property  and  passed  on  to  his  eklest  son  ; 
:ind  that  so  far  as  this  eklest  son  was  concerned,  the  name  and 
line  died  out,  for,  as  a  tablet  in  the  vestibule  of  Bunyan  Meet- 
inof  indicates,  this  Hannah  Bunyan  to  whom  John  Bunyan  the 
younger  left  all  his  possessions  died  unmarried  in  1770  at  the 
age  of  seventy-six.* 

With  respect  to  John  Bunyan's  second  son  Thomas,  a  ques- 
tion arises  on  which  a  word  or  two  may  be  said.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  on  Bunyan's  becoming  the  pastor  of  the 
Church  in  1672,  there  is  mention  made  in  the  following  year, 
in  his  own  handwriting,  of  the  reception  into  fellowship  of 
"  our  Brother  Thomas  Bunyan."  To  this  brother  there  are 
three  other  references  in  the  "  Church  Book,"  from  one  of 
which  it  would  appear  that  he  was  one  of  those  sent  forth 
to  preach.  In  1GU2  it  is  recorded  that,  "flbrasinuch  as  there 
has  been  sum  discord  for  sum  time  between  Brother  Sutton 
and  Brother  Thomas  Bunyan,t  Brother  Prcssland  and  Brother 
Hunge  war  apoynted  to  goe  to  them  And  endeavour  to  make 
up  the  differance  ;  but  if  they  could  not,  then  to  apoynt  a  day 
to  com  to  Bedford,  and  also  to  desire  the  latter  to  flForbeare 
preaching  till  such  time  as  y®  differance  be  made  up.  And 
Brother  Nicholls,  Brother  "Woodward,  Mr.  Chandler,  Brother 
Crocker,  and  Brother  Ilawkes  to  hear  the  matter."  The  fol- 
lowing month  "  Brother  Pressland  and  Brother  llunge  certilied 
y*  Church  that  they  had  endeavoured  to  make  up  the  ditleranco 
between  Brother  Sutton  and  Brother  Thomas  Bunyan,  but  could 
not ;  therefore  it  is  ordered  that  they  apoynt  a  day  themselves 
sum  time  next  week  to  come  to  Bedford,  that  y"  Brethren  here 
may  Kndeaver  Ileconsilliation  between  them."  The  month 
after  this,  again,  the  Church  at  their  meeting  at  (jiauilingay 
received  the  aniiouncenuiit,  "that  the  differance  between 
Brother  Sutton  and  Brother  Thomas  liunyan  wa.s  lUconsilled." 

•  Tho  inscrijition  on  th'i«  twlilc-t  is  aa  follows:  "In  momory  of  Iliinniih 
liiinyan  who  deimrlwl  thin  lifo  \Mi  F«rb.,  1770,  u^fd  70  yiutH.  N.U.  Shu  wiui 
(ffwit  jfnin<l-<liiught«;r  to  tho  lUjvtrutid  uiid  justly  cok-liriitod  .Mr.  .John  IJiinyiin, 
who  di<-d  nt  Ixjndon,  Slut  AugUNt,  1088,  AK<><i  00  yearn,  and  wuh  buried  in 
Hunhill  Kioldii,  wh<To  thoro  iji  u  iitono  crt-ctod  to  hin  memory.  He  wiut  it  milliliter 
of  thu  K"HI'<1  ber«!  32  yeur<,  und  during  that  period  Huffured  12  years'  imprison- 
ment.    The  lL'n;)xU;<>u»  shull  b<)  in  cverhiHling  remcmhrunoe." 

t  They  were  brothers-in-lnw,  Tboa.  IJuiiyan  having  uuu-riod  Button's  siatcT. 

1)  1)  2 


-iOl  JOHN  BUN  YAK  [chap.  xvri. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  former  biographers  that  this  Thomas 
Bunyan  was  the  son  of  John.  A  closer  examination  of  the  evi- 
dence, however,  will  show  that  he  was  not  his  son  but  his 
brother,  the  Thomas  Bunyan  mentioned  in  his  father's  will, 
and  also  in  the  parish  register  of  Northill,  where  he  died  in 
1695.  For  at  the  time  the  brother  mentioned  in  the  records 
joined  the  Bedford  Church,  Thomas,  the  son  of  John,  was  a 
mere  youth  of  about  sixteen.  Then,  again,  this  Thomas 
Bunyun  was  evidently  living  at  a  distance  from  Bedford  at  the 
time  of  the  difference  referred  to,  for  twice  over  it  is  arranged 
that,  failing  a  reconciliation,  he  is  to  come  to  Bedford  to  meet 
Sutton,  whereas  Thomas  Bunyan,  the  son  of  John,  was  per- 
manently living  there.  There  is  also  one  other  point  bearing 
in  the  same  direction.  Thomas  Sutton,  with  whom  the  dif- 
ference had  arisen,  lived  at  Little  Staughton,  and  therefore, 
naturally  enough,  the  brother  appointed  to  wait  upon  him  was 
George  Pressland,  whose  residence  was  at  Eynesbury,  in  the 
same  neighbourhood.  In  like  manner,  the  brother  appointed  to 
wait  on  Thomas  Bunyan  would  probably  be  a  neighbour  also, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  was  sent  to  him  Thomas  Huuge, 
the  sturdy  Nonconformist  carpenter  of  Korthill,  who,  we  happen 
to  know,  was  four  times  before  Foster's  Court  in  1668-9  for 
refusing  to  come  to  Northill  Church. 

If  these  inferences  be  correct,  there  is  no  reference  in  the 
"  Church  Book  "  to  Thomas  Bunyan,  the  son  of  John.  There 
are,  however,  the  following  entries  relating  to  his  family  in  the 
register  of  St,  Cuthbert's  parish,  where  he  was  living  both 
before  and  after  his  father's  death  : — 

"  1687.     Bapt.  Steven  y«  sonn  of  Tho.  Bonnyon,  Nov.  14th. 
"  1689.     Departed  this  Life  Frances  Bunyan,  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Bunyan  on  the  4th  day  of  June." 

A  year  or  two  later  he  appears  to  have  married  again,  for  in 
the  same  register  we  have  the  following  entry  : 

"1692.  Baptized  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thos.  Bunyan,  Jan. 
y"  29th." 

A  short  time  after  this  there  was  received  to  the  Church, 
under   Ebenezer   Chandler,   "  our  sister   Katherine   Bunyan," 


1G9G.]    JiUXYAX'S  DESCEXDAXTS  ^-  SUCCESSORS.     405 

who  may  have  been  Thomas's  second  wife.  There  is  also  this 
further  entry  in  the  parish  register : — 

"  1696.     Bapt.  Stephen  y'  son  of  Tlios.  Biinyan,  Dec.  25." 

from  which  it  would  appear  that  his  son  Stephen,  baptized  in 
1G87,  had  died  in  the  interval.  The  following  entry  is  illeo-iblc, 
so  far  as  the  Christian  names  are  concerned  :  — 

'"1711.     Bury'J  daughter  of  Bunyan." 

Beyond  these  entries  we  know  nothing  of  Thomas  Banyan's 
family,  unless  the  Sarah  Bunyan  who  married  John  MiUard  of 
St.  Paul's,  ill  1767,  and  the  Ann  Bunyan  who  married  Samuel 
Slinn  of  St.  Mary's,  in  1768,  were  grand-daughters  of  his. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  if  there  are  any  direct  descendants 
of  John  Bunyan  now  living  and  bearing  his  own  name,  it  must 
be  through  his  youngest  son  Joseph,  who  was  born  in  1672. 
All  that  we  know  of  this  son  and  his  Bedford  life  is  derived 
from  the  register  of  St.  Paul's  parish,  in  which  we  find  th€  fol- 
lowing entries  : — 

"  1694.  Deo.  married  Joseph  Bunyan  and  ^lury  Charnock. 
1095.  Oct.  6th.  Baptized  Chernock  y*  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary 
Bunyan.  1G96.  Oct.  Baptized  Ann,  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Marv  Bunyan.  1696.  Nov.  Buried  Ann,  daugliter  of  Josej)!! 
and  Mary  liuiiyan." 

At  this  point  all  farther  trace  of  Joseph  Bunyan  disappears, 
so  far  as  positive  and  reliable  evidence  is  concerned.  There  is 
a  tradition,  however,  tliat  he  removed  into  Nottinghanisliire  or 
liincolnshire,  and  conformed  to  the  Church  of  England. 
Whether  descended  from  him  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  during 
the  last  century  and  on  into  this  tliere  were  Banyans  both  at 
liincoln  and  Xottingliam.  The  last  of  the  name  was  llobert 
Bunyan,  who  died  in  1805  at  the  age  of  80.  lie  combined  with 
his  occupation  of  watchmaker  the  office  of  coroner  for  the  city 
of  liincfjhi,  and  seems  to  have  accumuhited  considerabh'  wealtli. 
lie  had  the  place  of  business  opposite  St.  I'eter's-at- Arches,  iu»w 
occupied  by  Mr.  Fisher,  llie  jeweUer  ;  and  it  is  said  by  ohl 
tradesmen  of  the  town  tliat  his  clocks,  for  tlie  e.vceUencr  of 
their  workmansltip,  were  famouM  all  the  country  round.  There 
is  a  monument  to  lii.s  memory  in  Lincoln  cemetery,  expressive 


406  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

of  the  respect  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  stating  that  he  was  a 
descendant  of  the  writer  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."  His 
father,  Robert  Bunyan  of  Bunker's  Hill,  in  the  parish  of  Net- 
tleham,  also  lived  on  to  the  age  of  eighty,  and  was  buried  in 
1825  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Peter's-at-Arches,  his  gravestone 
being  close  to  the  street.  The  father  of  this  man,  again,  was  a 
Robert  Bunyan  also,  who  was  born  in  1715,  and  died  in  1794. 
So  far  all  seems  clear  enough.  But  at  this  point  arises  the 
difficulty  of  connecting  this  Robert  Bunyan  with  Joseph 
Bunyan,  whose  eldest  son,  Chernock,  would  only  be  twenty 
years  of  age  when  the  Robert  in  question  was  born.  The 
family  of  the  Lincoln  Bunyans  have  drawn  up  a  pedigree, 
which  has  been  kindly  furnished  to  me  through  Canon  Venables. 
This  document  is  on  sure  ground  as  far  back  as  1715,  earlier 
than  that  it  is  confessedly  conjectural.  It  states  that  "the 
celebrated  John  Bunyan  married  his  first  wife  Mary  in 
1646,  and  by  her  had  issue  Thomas,  the  eldest  son,  boi-n  1646, 
died  1718  ;  his  eldest  son,  John,  was  born  1670,  having  issue 
Robert,  1693,  who  was  married  in  1713,  and  was  the  father 
of  Robert,"  mentioned  above,  born  in  1715.  This  pedigree 
seems  on  the  face  of  it  to  have  all  its  links  complete,  but  unfor- 
tunately it  is  weakest  at  the  point  where  we  could  have  wished 
it  to  be  strongest.  At  the  time  it  states  that  John  Bunyan  was 
married  he  was,  as  we  now  know,  only  a  month  or  two  over 
seventeen  years  of  age.  His  eldest  son  was  not  Thomas,  but 
John,  and  John  died  in  1728,  leaving,  as  we  have  seen,  only 
a  grand-daughter,  who  died  unmarried  in  1770. 

If  we  turn  to  the  Bunyans  of  Nottingham  we  come  upon  a 
similar  difficulty.  We  can  trace  them  certainly  enough  as  far 
back  as  1754,  and  then  all  our  information  fails.  In  1754 
George  Bunyan  was  married  to  Mary  Haywood  at  St.  Nicholas' 
church,  and  had  eleven  children,  whose  names  are  given  in  the 
register  of  that  church.  The  names  of  George  Bunyan,  hosier, 
in  Castle  Gate,  and  of  his  brother.  Captain  "William  Bunyan,  in 
Woolpack  Lane,  are  both  found  in  the  Nottingham  "  Burgess 
List  "  of  1774  as  voting  for  the  Honourable  William  Howe  at 
the  parliamentary  election  for  that  year.  In  the  previous  "Poll 
List  "  of  1747,  there  are  no  Bunyan  names,  nor  are  there  any 
after  that  of  1774.     It  is  said  that  George  Bunyan  suffered  in 


1GS6.J      BUXTJN'S  LESCEXDaNTS  ^-  SUCCESSORS.     407 

his  business  in  consequence  of  tlie  part  lie  took  in  the  election 
referred  to ;  that  Lord  Howe  made  him  Inspector  of  Stores  in 
Philadelphia,  where  he  died  of  fever;  and  that  his  brother, 
Captain  "William  Bunyan,  was  drowned  at  sea.* 

This  is  all  that  can  be  said.  The  registers  of  the  parish 
churches  of  Lincoln  and  Nottingham  have  been  searched,  as 
have  also  the  lists  of  wills  in  both  Registries  of  the  District 
Courts  of  Probate,  but  without  farther  result.  The  connection 
between  the  Bunyans  of  Lincoln  and  Nottingham  is  tolerably 
certain  ;  their  descent  from  John  Bunyan  of  Bedford  not  so 
certain.  It  is  possible,  even  probable,  but  at  present  not 
proven. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  Bunyan  had  three  daujjhters  as 
well  as  three  sons,  and  that  Mary,  his  blind  daughter,  died 
before  him.  His  second  daughter,  Elizabeth,  was  married  in 
1G77  to  Gilbert  Ashley  of  the  Castle  Mill,  as  we  find  from  the 
following  entry  in  the  register  of  Goldington  Church  : — 


(< 


1677.     Matrimonium  solemnizatum  inter  Gilbertum  Ashley  et 
Elizabetham  Bunyan,  April  IG°." 

This  Gilbert  Ashley  the  miller  was  a  man  of  sufficient  local 
importance  to  issue  copper  tokens  in  his  own  name,  one  of 
which  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Arclucological  Society  at  Bed- 
ford, lie  was  an  earnest  member  of  the  church  under  Bunyan's 
care;  and  it  will  be  remembered  that,  in  1()7"2,  Bunyan  applied 
for  a  licence  for  Edward  Isaac  to  preach  at  the  liouse  of  Gilbert 
Ashley  in  Goldington.  It  is  not  Icrown  whether  there  were 
any  children  of  this  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Bunyan. 

Of  the  remaining  daughter,  Sarah  Bunyan,  we  have  moro 
positive  knowledge  ;  indeed,  the  only  descendants  of  John 
Bunyan  now  living,  of  whom  we  are  certain,  have  sprung  from 
her.  Her  marriage  is  recorded  in  the  St.  Cutlib(;rt's  r(';;:ister, 
at  Bedford,  as  follows:  "  HJSf)  :  !^Iaricd,  William  Browne  to 
Sarah  Bunyan,  Both  of  this  Parish.  December  l!)."  ()i  the 
immediate  ciiildrcn  of  this  Sarah  Bunyan  wo  have  no  know- 
l»*dge,  but  her  grand-daughter  Frances  Browne,  who  was  born 
in  1722,  and  who  afterwards  becamo  the  wife  of  Charles 
Bithrey,  a  prosperous  yeoman  at  Carlton  in  Bedfordshire,  died 

•  Note*  and  Querui,  Now  Sorios,  Jan.,  1800— Nolo  by  8.  F.  Croawull. 


408  JOHN  BJJNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

as  recently  as  January  7th,  1803.  This  great-grand  daughter 
of  John  Bunyan  lived  and  died  at  the  old  Manor  House, 
in  Carlton,  known  as  "  The  Fishers,"  a  name  probably  derived 
from  earlier  occupants,  there  being  a  Gideon  Fisher  in  the 
parish  in  1672,  whose  house  was  licensed  for  Nonconformist 
worship  under  the  first  Declaration  of  Indulgence.  Frances 
Bithrey  was  the  second  wife  of  her  husband,  and  survived 
him  nineteen  years.  She  was  held  in  great  esteem  in  the 
parish,  and  having  about  her  a  certain  air  of  old-world  re- 
spectability, was  familiarly  known  among  the  villagers  as 
"  Madam  '*  Bithrey.  The  youngsters  of  the  place,  especially, 
remembered  her  from  the  fact  that  after  her  husband's  death 
she  gave  every  year,  on  his  birthday,  a  penny  loaf  to  every 
child  in  the  village  by  way  of  keeping  up  his  memory 
among  them.  Judging  from  an  ivory  miniature  portrait,  taken 
in  her  eightieth  year,  she  had  to  the  last  a  vigorous  face  and 
blue  eyes,  with  light  and  meaning  in  them.  She  was  a  zealous 
friend  to  the  Baptist  Church  in  Carlton,  of  which  she  was  a 
member,  and  to  its  minister,  the  Rev.  Charles  Vorley,  to  whom 
she  presented  a  house  for  his  residence,  which  is  still  in  the  pos- 
session of  his  family.  She  died  childless,  in  1803,  after  which 
"  The  Fishers "  and  a  cottage  close  by,  together  with  forty 
acres  of  land,  came  to  the  children  of  her  nephew,  William 
Brown  of  Carlton,  who  died  in  1800.  To  Mr.  Yorley,  her 
minister,  she  bequeathed  £200  in  the  Four  per  Cents.,  and 
various  articles  of  furniture,  including  "  my  cedar  nest  of 
drawers."  This  little  cabinet,  thus  described,  had  come  to  her 
as  an  heirloom  of  the  family,  having  been  the  property  of  her 
distinguished  ancestor,  John  Bunyan ;  it  is  now  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Bunyan  Meeting  Trustees.  To  her  old  servant, 
Elizabeth  Bishop,  "  Madam  "  Bithrey  bequeathed  £200  in  the 
Four  per  Cents.,  and  also  "  my  silver  snufF  box,  silver  spoons, 
and  my  Scissars  Pattern  Tea  Tongs,  and  my  Bible,  and  such 
other  of  my  Books  as  she  shall  choose  to  keep  for  her  own 
reading  (except  my  three  volumes  of  the  late  Reverend  Mr. 
Harvey's  works)  which  I  give  to  my  Friend,  Edward  Abraham, 
of  Olney,  Gentleman."  To  the  poor  of  the  Dissenting  Con- 
gregation she  left  £5,  and  to  the  poor  of  the  parish  £5.  There 
were  bequests  also  to  her  nephew,  William  Brown  of  Bedford, 


1S85.]     BrXTAX'S  BFSCEXBAXTS  ^-  SUCCFSSOIiS.     409 

and  to  her  nephew,  Thomas  Bniwn  of  St.  Albans;  but  the  bulk 
of  her  property  went  to  the  five  childi'cn  of  her  nephew,  William 
Brown  of  Carlton, 

These  Browns,  so  far  as  we  know  with  certainty,  are  the 
only  living  descendants  of  John  Bunyan,  and  sprang,  as  we 
have  said,  from  his  dauijhtor  Sarah.  The  William  Brown 
mentioned  in  this  will  of  "  Madam  "  Bithrey's  as  her  nephew 
at  Bedford  is  described  in  a  little  directory  of  1785  as  a 
clothier,  and  in  still  later  times  a  descendant  of  his  was 
the  local  Pickford,  whose  waggons,  drawn  by  their  six  horses 
each,  carried  on  the  heavy  traffic  with  London  up  to  the  time 
when  the  rail  superseded  the  road.  Of  the  one  son  and 
four  daughters  of  William  Brown  of  Carlton  we  have  more 
precise  information  owing  to  the  legal  disposition  of  property 
under  "Madam"  Bithrey's  will.  William  Brown,  the  son, 
died  in  1S48,  and  is  represented  by  his  children,  George, 
Richard,  John,  and  Sarah  Brown,  who  are  all  living  together 
unmarried,  at  Bozeat,  in  Xorthamptonshiro  ;  Thomas  Brown  of 
Wellingborough  ;  Stephen  Brown,  of  Guilsborough,  in  the  same 
county  ;  and  Henry  Brown  of  Great  Oaks  Farm,  at  Turvey,  in 
Bedfordshire.  The  four  daughters  were — Elizabeth,  afterwards 
Norman,  who  died  childless;  Sarah,  who  was  married  to 
Stephen  Benbrook,  and  whose  family  are  in  America ;  Frances, 
who  was  married  to  William  Johnson,  two  of  whose  daughters 
live  at  Xewton  Blossomville,  co.  Bucks  ;  and  one  at  Stagsden, 
in  Bedfordshire  ;  and  Mary,  who  was  married  to  A\'illiam 
Davison  of  Turvey,  and  wliose  youngest  daughter,  her  only 
surviving  child,  lives  at  Toronto.  The  diiVerent  members 
of  this  widespread  family  are  quite  aware  of  their  relation- 
ship to  Bunyan,  one  of  the  four  sisters  keeping  up  the 
memory  of  the  fact  in  the  name  of  her  son,  John  Bunyan 
Johnson,  a  man  who  in  his  stalwart  strength  was  famous 
for  being  able  to  run  up  a  ladder  with  a  sack  of  l);uK'y 
under  each  arm,  each  sack  weigliiiig  some  two  hundred- 
weight. Beyond  the  name  given  to  this  man  of  might,  liow- 
ever,  Bunyan's  kinsfolk  seem  not  to  have  felt  any  very  lively 
interest  in  their  kinsliip.  Ono  of  them,  a  man  of  si.xty-live, 
admitted  lately  that  though  he  knew  ho  was  descended  from 
iUj    author,   he  hud  not  yet  read   the   "  riigritn's   I'rogrebs," 


410  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

explaining  this  curious  literary  fact  by  saying  that  he  "  never 
was  much  given  to  books." 

Turning  from  Bunyan's  kindred  by  descent,  it  may  be  inter- 
esting now  to  give  some  brief  account  of  his  successors  in  the 
ministry  of  the  Church  at  Bedford.  Referring  for  a  moment 
first  to  his  predecessors,  it  will  be  remembered  that  John  Gilford 
and  John  Burton  were  really  rectors  of  the  parish  of  St.  John 
under  Cromwell's  Established  Church.  The  next  two,  Samuel 
Fenn  and  John  Whiteman,  were  chosen  at  the  beginning  of  the 
times  of  persecution  when  the  Church  had  no  fixed  place  of 
meeting,  and  they  still  followed  their  ordinary  callings,  Samuel 
Fenn  remaining  a  haberdasher  in  the  High  Street,  and  John 
Whiteman  living  on  as  a  yeoman  at  Cardington.  They  were 
therefore  not  pastors  in  the  sense  in  which  Bunyan  was  after 
the  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  John  Whiteman  died  in 
1672,  and  though  "our  honoured  brother,  Samuel  Fenn,  one 
of  the  Elders  of  this  Congregation,"  as  Bunyan  describes 
him,  lived  on  till  1681,  the  work  of  the  pastorate  really  fell 
upon  Bunyan  himself,  who  had  been  appointed  nearly  ten  years 
before. 

The  immediate  successor  of  Bunyan  was  Ebenezer  Chandler, 
who  first  came  among  the  Bedford  people  towards  the  end  of 
1689.  He  was  a  member  of  the  London  Church  of  which 
Eichard  Taylor  was  pastor,  and  the  brethren  of  which  trans- 
ferred him  "  in  order  to  his  being  separated  to  office  work," 
and,  as  they  say,  "from  the  prospect  of  his  being  eminently 
serviceable  to  the  common  interest  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
we  are  brought  (although  with  no  small  reluctancy)  to  grant 
y'  Request,  and  are  willing  to  impoverish  ourselves  for  the 
enriching  of  you."  The  pastor  thus  sent  down  to  the  Bedford 
Church  at  their  own  request,  remained  with  them  till  his  death 
in  1747,  his  connection  with  them  thus  extending  over  thelono" 
period  of  fifty-seven  years.  Till  1707  the  Church  continued 
to  worship  in  the  barn  in  which  Bunyan  had  preached  since 
1672;  but  in  that  year  a  new  building  was  erected  for  the  con- 
gregation, which  had  increased  under  the  larger  liberty  brought 
in  by  the  Act  of  Toleration.  While  the  new  building  was  being 
erected  on  the  same  spot  as  the  old  historic  barn,  another  barn 
waft  temporarily  occupied,  notice  of  its  use  being  given  in  the 


1707.1   JirXTAyS  DESCFXDAXTS  ^  SWCCFSSORS.     411 

following  form,  the  ori'ginnl  of  ■which  is  pinned  to  a  fly-leaf  of 
the  "  Book  of  Caveats  "  in  the  registry  of  the  Archdeaconry  : — 

"  Bedford,  23  May,  1707  :— 

"  In  pursuance  of  an  Act  of  Parliament  made  in  the  first  year  of 
the  Iveign  of  Iving  William  and  Quoen  Mary  whereby  Libertie  for 
Protestant  Dissenters  to  worship  God  According  to  their  consciences 
is  established ;  they  among  other  roqui'*  being  required  to  certifyo 
the  place  of  their  worsliip  :  Wo  do  hereby  certifio  that  we  intend  to 
make  use  of  A  Barn,  now  in  the  occupation  of  John  Randall  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Cuthbert,  in  the  town  and  County  of  Bedford  for  the 
worship  of  God  aforesaid  ;  and  desire  as  the  Law  directs,  it  may  be 
recorded.  Witness  our  Hands,  Eben.  Chandler,  Will.  NichoUs, 
Henry  Whitbread." 

The  new  building  thus  erected  in  1707  and  long  knowi/  in 
Bedford  as  the  Old  Meeting  remained  till  1849,  and  in  spite  of 
baldness  and  even  ugliness  was  dear  and  venerable  to  the 
hearts  of  many  from  the  sacred  associations  of  a  life-time.  It 
took  the  prevailing  shape  of  the  many  meeting  houses  built 
after  the  Revolution,  having  three  gabled  ridges,  the  roof  being 
supported  by  two  sets  of  four  oaken  pillars  within.  In  its 
pristine  simplicity  these  pillar.s  were  at  first  merely  straight 
oak  trees  with  the  bark  removed,  and  it  was  not  till  a  more 
refined  generation  that  they  were  planed  into  octagon  shape. 
Like  the  two  pillars  in  Solomon's  Temple,  that  were  known  by 
the  names  of  Jachin  and  Boaz,  three  of  those  reaching  from 
floor  to  roof  and  standing  midway  between  the  pulpit  and  the 
front  gallery  received,  in  later  times,  the  names  of  three  vener- 
able men  in  the  Church  who  had  long  been  pillars  in  the 
spiritual  house.  The  meeting  when  finished  would  accommo- 
date eight  hundred  people,  and  cost  £400,  a  price  per  sitting 
which  would  bo  the  despair  of  modern  architects.  The  long 
way  of  the  building  ran  from  north  to  south  and  on  the  long 
side  to  the  east,  between  two  tall  windows  stood  the  pul|)it, 
opposite  to  which  and  somewhat  close  upon  it  was  the  long 
front  gallery  which  was  completed  by  two  short  end  galleries. 
•Standing  endwise  towards  the  pulpit,  in  what  was  called  the 
"table-|»\v,"  was  a  massiveoaken  comnmnion  table  some  thirteen 
feet  long,  and  round  thisut  the  ordinary  eorvices  sat  fourteen  or 
fifteen  aged  poor  men    to  whom   this  conspicuous    place  was 


412  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

accorded  as  a  sort  of  testimony  to  their  quiet  worth  and  the 
general  esteem  in  whicli  they  were  held  among  the  brethren. 
By  virtue  of  an  unwritten  law,  the  usage  of  generations,  no 
sister  ever  seems  to  have  sat  in  that  chief  place  accorded  to 
the  poorer  brethren.  Frequently  some  deaf  brother  had  a 
recognised  position  at  the  top  of  the  puljDit  stairs,  and  with 
his  ear  trumpet  and  strained  attentive  face  became  a  marked 
and  familiar  object  to  the  congregation.  The  pulpit  itself  was 
of  course  the  prominent  feature,  with  its  large  book-board,  its 
great  cushion  of  crimson  or  blue,  and  its  lofty  panelled  back- 
board, on  which  was  visible  the  large  brass  holder  from  which 
was  suspended  the  preacher's  hat  with  its  silken  band  on  the 
then  frequent  occasions  when  funeral  sermons  were  preached. 
The  ceiling  of  the  building  was  low  and  the  windows,  with 
the  exception  of  the  one  on  each  side  of  the  pulpit,  narrow 
and  small,  so  that  the  place  with  its  heavy  galleries  must  have 
worn  a  sombre  aspect  of  gloom  ;  yet  the  old  people  to  whom  the 
venerable  place  was  dearer  than  the  stateliest  cathedral  could 
ever  be,  still  maintain  that  when  the  pews,  all  converging 
towards  the  preacher's  desk,  were  filled,  as  they  usually  were, 
with  earnest  faces,  it  was  a  grand  and  noble  sight. 

In  the  days  of  Ebenezer  Chandler  the  services,  in  winter 
at  least,  began  at  what  seems  to  us  an  unconscionably  early 
time,  when  we  remember  that  some  of  the  congregation  had 
come  from  as  far  as  Gamlingay,  nearly  fifteen  miles  away. 
Under  date  October,  1697,  there  is  this  entry  in  the  Church 
Book :  "  The  Lord's  Supper  was  deferd  for  the  advantage  of 
light  nights  till  the  2nd  Lord's  day  in  Nov.  and  then  to  begin 
our  Publick  Meeting  at  nine  in  the  morning  and  at  twelve  at 
noon  y*  our  country  members  may  have  time  to  go  home." 

If  these  services,  begun  thus  early,  had  not  many  adventitious 
aids  from  the  architecture  of  the  building  in  which  they  were 
held,  neither  had  they  from  the  inspiring  influence  of  music. 
It  seems  strange  to  us  to  find  that  all  through  Bunyan's  time 
there  was  not  so  much  as  the  singing  of  a  hymn  at  public 
worship.  In  this  sober  order  of  procedure,  however,  his  people 
were  not  so  singular  as  might  be  supposed ;  for  even  in  churches 
the  musical  element  in  the  services  had  fallen  almost  to  the 
point  of  extinction.     The  version  of  the  Psalms  by  Sternhold 


1G97.]    BrXYAX'S  I)i:SCEXJ)AXTS  ^  SUCCESSORS.     413 

and  Hopkins,  men,  as  Thomas  Fuller  says,  whose  piety  was 
better  than  their  poetry,  had  not  yet  given  place  to  the  new 
version  of  Tate  and  Brady  ;  and  Robert  Nelson  tells  us  that 
even  serious  people  excused  themselves  from  taking  part  in 
the  psalmody  because  of  the  bad  poetry,  which  Wesley  went  so 
far  as  to  call  scandalous  doggerel.  Much  later  even  than  this 
time  we  read  of  that  "  shameful  mode  of  psalmody  almost  con- 
fined to  the  wretched  solo  of  a  parish  clerk,  or  to  a  few  persons 
huddled  together  in  one  corner  of  the  church,  who  sung  to  the 
praise  and  glory  of  themselves  for  the  entertainment  and  oftener 
to  the  wearisomeness  of  the  congregation."*  The  new  era  of 
hymnology  had  not  yet  dawned,  and  the  loftier  strain  of  song 
had  not  yet  been  awakened  even  in  the  services  of  the  national 
church. 

But  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  it  was  either  the 
bad  poetry  of  Sternhold  and  Hopkins  or  the  soul-harrowing 
music  of  parish  clerks  that  kept  the  meeting-house  silent  from 
hymns  of  praise.  George  Fox  had  influenced  the  minds  of 
many  outside  the  Quaker  Communion  so  that  tliey  came  to 
think  of  psalmody  as  an  invention  of  man  in  the  worship  of 
God,  and  books  were  written  to  show  that  the  only  Scriptural 
singing  was  that  from  the  heart.  Something  like  this  was  the 
feeling  at  Bedford,  as  the  following  entry  in  the  "Act-Book  "  of 
the  Church  would  seem  to  indicate  :  "  At  a  Cliurch  mooting  at 
Bedford  the  20th  day  of  October,  1(J!)0,  It  was  debated  and 
agreed  that  Publick  Singing  of  Psalms  be  practised  by  the 
Church  with  a  caushion  that  non  others  perform  it  but  such  as 
can  sing  with  Grace  in  there  Hearts  According  to  the  Com- 
mand of  Christ."  In  the  margin  it  is  noted :  '*  Brethren  agreed 
to  it:  18;  dissent  from  it:  2."  It  would  appear,  however,  that 
the  singing  tlius  agreed  upon  was  conlined  to  tlie  afternoon 
service,  us  tlils  extract  shows:  "June  7th,  1()I>7  :  Our  Hrothir 
Chandler  did  then  move  that  liimself  and  those  of  his  principh" 
might  have  Lybertie  to  sing  the  praises  of  God  in  the  morning 
of  the  Lord's  day  us  well  us  the  Afternoon,  and  at  all  tinies 
when  ln'  preached  <ir  lliosc;  tlioro  arc  willing  so  to  do,  there 
being  full  Ubi-rtio  for  the  pructieo  of  it  in  all  other  parts  of 
the  Church,  and  uftcr  some  debute  it  wus  consented  to  by  the 
*  T.  IlttWbia'  Carmina  VhrUlo.     Trvfiico. 


414  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap.  xvii. 

Church  in  generall."  Even  yet,  however,  the  practice  seems 
not  to  have  accorded  with  the  resolution  after  debate  ;  for  at  a 
Church  Meeting  held  about  Michaelmas  1700,  "  'Twas  agreed 
on  y*  there  should  be  liberty  to  sing  at  every  meeting  of 
preaching  week  dayes  as  well  as  Lord's  day,  and  on  those  dayes 
morning  and  afternoon,  and  also  leave  was  given  for  the  pro- 
nouncing the  Blessing  after  prayer." 

Besides  these  changes,  which  were  regarded  as  doubtful  inno- 
vations by  the  more  conservative  brethren,  there  appear  to 
have  been  opinions  started  and  claims  put  forth  which  caused 
concern.  In  1726  an  English  Gnostic,  holding  that  evil  was 
inherent  in  matter,  not  in  spirit,  appeared  among  them,  Brother 
Samuel  Kendall,  "  asserting  the  soul  was  perfect  and  did  not 
and  could  not  sin,  but  that  sin  was  only  in  the  body ; "  he  was 
also  "  in  other  instances  enthusiastical."  By  the  side  of  this 
erring  brother  was  Sister  Bar  of  Blunham,  who  "  pretended  to 
a  spirit  of  prophecy  and  had  predicted  several  strange  unscrip- 
turall  things  as  that  the  Church  would  suddenly  be  broke  or 
in  her  own  words  that  the  head  and  body,  meaning  Pastor  and 
people  should  be  separated  and  lye  dead."  As  by  the  end  of 
two  years  she  was  "  sensible  of  her  sin,  and  did  much  reform, 
'twas  concluded  to  exercise  patience  towards  her." 

In  1745  a  case  arose  for  consideration  which,  as  connected 
with  one  of  the  burning  questions  of  our  own  time,  may  be 
referred  to  in  passing.  The  Church  at  Hitchin  being  troubled 
and  anxious  laid  before  their  brethren  at  Bedford  the  following 
case  for  consideration  and  counsel :  "  The  Wife  of  one  of  our 
Brethren  dying  without  issue,  he  has  since  thought  proper  to 
marry  her  sister,  who  is  likewise  a  member  with  us.  .  .  .  They 
have  been  conversed  with  since,  but  can  by  no  means  be  brought 
to  look  upon  this  action  as  criminal."  They  go  on  to  say  that 
upon  this  vexed  question  "there  are  different  sentiments  among 
ourselves ;  some  looking  on  the  marriage  as  incestuous,  others 
viewing  it  in  a  more  favourable  light." 

This  letter  was  formally  laid  before  the  brethren  at  Bedford 
in  their  Church  meeting,  where  it  was  discussed  and  an  answer 
sent  to  their  Hitchin  brethren,  the  gist  of  which  is  contained 
in  the  following  passage  : — 

"  AVe  were  pretty  unanimous  in  thinking  that  the  Law  of  God  is 


1737.]     UUXTAN'S  DJSSCIJXBANTS  S,-  SUCCFSSORS.     115 

not  clear  concerning  the  Lawfulness  or  Unla\rfulness  of  such  a 
Marriage,  that  therefore  it  were  much  to  ho  Avish'd  they  who  have 
ventur'd  upon  it  had  not  done  it :  especially  considering  y*  so  many 
wise  and  good  men  esteem  it  sinful,  and  y'  it  has  occasioned  much 
offence  and  trouble  to  some  serious  Christians  ;  hut  since  they  them- 
selves saw  no  iniquity  in  it,  and  it  cannot  be  certainly  prov'd  there 
is  any,  whatever  reason  there  may  be  to  fear  it,  we  were  of  opinion 
they  should  not  be  excommunicated  for  what  they  have  done." 

Ebenezer  Chandler  remained  pastor  at  Bedford,  from  the 
reign  of  "William  and  Mary  to  that  of  the  second  George,  dying 
on  the  24th  of  June,  1747.  Towards  the  end  of  life  he  was 
alilicted  with  blindness,  and  totally  laid  aside  from  public  work 
in  the  March  of  1744.  His  portrait,  presenting  him  in  gown 
and  bands,  and  with  the  curled  flowing  wig  of  the  period  sur- 
rounding a  strong  sturdy  face,  still  remains,  but  as  he  published 
nothing  during  his  long  public  life  beyond  the  preface  to  the 
folio  edition  of  Bunyan's  works  of  1G92,  and  as  there  are  no 
contemporary  references  to  him,  we  have  scanty  means  of  es- 
timating his  character  and  influence. 

His  colleague  and  successor,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Sanderson, 
who  first  came  to  Bedford  February  2Gth,  17'67,  though  not 
destined  to  so  long  a  service  as  Chandler,  yet  remained  for  the 
extended  period  of  twenty-nine  years.  A  native  of  Sheflield  and 
educated  at  a  grammar-school  in  Hull,  he  was  afterwards  trained 
for  the  ministry,  first  under  the  licv.  Timothy  Jollio  of  Atter- 
clifle,  and  afterwards  by  the  llcv.  John  Kames,  F.U.S.,  of  New- 
intrton  Green.  Mr.  Eames,  a  man  of  some  eminence  in  scientific 
pursuits,  was  the  friend  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  through  whoso 
influence  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society.  At  u 
later  period  John  llonard  was  one  of  his  pupils,  and  ho  had 
among  his  students  at  different  times  Dr.  Furneaux,  Dr.  Savage, 
Dr.  Price,  and  Thomas  Seeker,  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. After  completing  his  studies  at  Newington  Green,  Mr. 
Sanderson  resided  for  some  time  us  chaplain  in  the  hou.so  of 
Justice  Bircli,  Cursitor  Baron  of  the  K.\che(iuer,  occasionally 
preaching  in  and  about  London.  In  iT'M)  wo  find  him  settled 
U8  minister  over  the  now  Independent  congregation  gathered 
at  Kensington,  and  ho  ucted  also  us  Asfiistant  Minihter  of  tlio 
Weigh  Ilouse  iu   Kustchcap.     lie   first  cumo  down  to  Bedford 


416  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

February  26tli,  1737,  and  remained  there  for  the  rest  of  his 
life.  His  wife  was  the  grand-daughter  of  Sir  Francis  Wingate 
of  Harlington,  her  mother  Frances  "VYingate  having  married 
Thomas  Woodward,  one  of  the  deacons  of  the  Old  Meeting, 
and  it  may  be  remembered  that  Mrs.  Sanderson's  sister  Ann, 
also  a  Wingate,  married  the  Rev.  James  Belsham,  and  became 
the  mother  of  Thomas  and  William  Belsham,  men  of  some 
literary  repute  at  the  end  of  last  century. 

Mr.  Sanderson  was  a  man  of  solid  worth  and  of  great  weight  of 
judgment  and  character.  He  sent  out  into  the  ministry  from  the 
Church  at  Bedford  two  men  of  more  than  ordinary  power  and 
influence,  Samuel  Palmer,  one  of  the  successors  of  Matthew 
Henry  at  Hackney,  and  editor  of  the  "Nonconformist  Memorial," 
and  William  Bull,  of  Newport  Pagnel,  a  man  of  genius  himself 
and  the  chosen  friend,  addressed  as  "  Charissime  Taurorum,"  by 
his  neighbour  William  Cowper,  the  poet  of  Olney.  Both  these 
men  spoke  of  Samuel  Sanderson  and  of  his  influence  in  the 
formation  of  their  characters  with  the  utmost  veneration  and 
affection.  Referring  to  the  sermons  he  heard  from  him  in  his 
earlier  days  at  Bedford  William  Bull  says : — "  I  seemed  to 
feel  the  dawnings  of  the  sun  of  righteousness  on  my  soul.  I 
never  before  experienced  so  much  pleasure  or  benefit  from 
hearing."  *  Samuel  Palmer,  also,  when  called  upon  to  preach 
the  funeral  sermon  of  this  good  man,  speaks  of  Samuel  Sander- 
son as  "one  with  whom  I  enjoyed  a  friendship  which  I  esteem 
one  of  the  greatest  felicities  of  my  life,  and  which  I  shall 
think  of  with  pleasure  and  gratitude  to  the  latest  period  of  it."  f 
A  man  of  more  than  usually  vigorous  health,  Mr.  Sanderson 
died  after  only  a  few  days'  illness,  on  the  24th  of  January, 
1766.  As  this  illness  day  by  day  betrayed  more  serious 
symptoms,  he  sent  parting  words  of  loving  admonition  to  the 
people  among  whom  he  had  lived  so  happily  for  nearly  thirty 
years,  blessed  God  for  bringing  him  among  them,  and  entreat- 
ing them  not  to  pray  too  much  for  his  life,  but  rather  that  he 
might  have  patience  to   hold  out  to  the  end.      As  the  hours 

*  Memorials  of  the  Eev.  William  Bull,  by  his  Grandson,  the  Eev.  Josiah  Bull, 
M.A.,  1864,  p.  18. 

t  The  Appearing  of  Christ  the  Chief  Shepherd :  a  sermon  occasioned  by  the 
mucli  lamented  death  of  the  Eev.  Mr.  Samuel  Sanderson,  preached  at  Bedford, 
January  29th,  1766.     By  Samuel  Palmer. 


1766.]  BrXYAX'S  DFSCEXDAXTS  AXD  SUCCESSORS.  417 

went  by  he  continued  lifting  up  his  heart  in  prayer  for  them, 
till  at  last  his  raind  "  like  sweet  bells  jangled  out  of  tune  " 
became  delirious.  Even  then  the  old  thoughts  and  the  old 
love  came  over  him.  In  his  delirium  he  fancied  himself  onco 
more  in  the  pulpit  where  he  had  loved  to  be.  Once  more 
he  gave  out  his  text,  a  verse  from  Ecclesiastes,  appealing 
especially  to  the  young,  and  then  proceeded  to  address  tliis 
portion  of  his  flock  with  much  of  the  old  orderliness  of  thought 
and  characteristic  warmth  of  heart.  The  sermon  ended  he 
once  more,  too,  in  the  old  ftimiliar  way  asked  the  Great  Father 
to  make  these  words  of  his  to  be  living  words  to  those  to 
whom  he  thought  he  had  spoken  them.  So  preaching  and 
praying  to  the  last,  he  went  away  upward  to  the  higher 
service. 

His  successor  at  Bedford  was  Joshua  Symonds,  the  son  of  an 
apothecary  at  Kidderminster,  whom  Joseph  Williams  the 
Christian  merchant  of  that  town  describes  as  one  of  those  good 
men  for  whom  "  peradventure  some  would  even  dare  to  die." 
Young  Joshua  was  at  first  intended  for  a  farming  life,  but  was 
eventually  prevailed  on  by  Mr.  AYylde,  the  minister  of  Carr's 
Lane  Chapel,  Birmingham,  to  enterthe  Congregational  ministry, 
for  which  he  was  trained  by  Dr.  Conder  of  Mile  End.  Sent 
down  to  preach  at  Bedford  in  ^larcli,  17(iG,  he  was  shortly  after 
invited  by  the  vacant  Church  to  become  its  pastor,  an  invitation 
he  accepted,  remaining  willi  thcin  till  his  deatli,  twenty-two 
years  Liter,  in  17.'Sb. 

During  the  years  of  Joshua  Symonds'  Bedford  life  he  was 
associated  with  a  little  knot  of  people  of  more  than  local  celeb- 
rity and  influence.  John  Howard  had  come  to  his  pleasant 
seat  at  Cardington,  two  miles  from  Bedford,  in  IToS,  and  had 
connected  himself  with  the  congregation  at  the  Old  Meeting, 
subsequently  spending  his  Sundays  in  a  house  built  by  liiin, 
close  to  the  three-ridged  building  win  re;  iio  worshijjpcd.  This 
house,  erected  on  what  was  originally  Ji)lin  lesion's  garden,  "Tlu; 
I'vnners,"  had  its  west  wall  towards  tlu;  burial  ground  where 
so  many  of  the  worthies  of  u  past  generation  lay  hlet-ping.  The 
trclliswork  on  the  cast  is  still  covered  with  a  spreading  vine, 
planted  \>y  Howard  himself,  and  the  sitting-room  to  the  north, 
with  the  bedroom  over  it,  were  the  rooms  u»e<l  by  the  great  phil- 

E  K 


418  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

anthropist  when  staying  in  the  town.  While  still  retaining  his 
membership  with  the  Church  at  Stoke  ISTewington,  he  was 
always  a  warm  friend  to  the  cause  of  Dissent  in  the  town  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  which  he  had  come.  In  1767  he  gave  a  piece 
of  land  from  his  own  garden  for  the  enlargement  of  the  burial 
ground  ;  the  same  year  he  subscribed  £50  towards  the  purchase 
of  a  house  which  had  first  been  the  private  residence  of  Ebenezer 
Chandler,  and  then  of  Samuel  Sanderson,  that  it  might  be  in 
perpetuity  the  manse  for  the  ministers  of  the  church  ;  and 
in  1770  he  contributed  £70  towards  the  restoration  of  the  quaint 
old  Meeting  House,  his  neighbour  Mr.  Samuel  Whitbread, 
contributing  also  "six  score  guineas"  to  the  same  desirable 
object.  Out  of  the  latter  gift  the  spreading  many-lighted  brass 
chandelier  so  familiar  to  the  worshippers  at  the  Old  Meeting, 
was  purchased ;  while  out  of  Mr.  Howard's  donation  was  ob- 
tained the  old  oaken  pulpit,  which  remained  the  place  of 
exhortation  till  the  erection  of  a  new  sanctuary  in  1849.* 

Besides  the  distinguished  man  to  whom  reference  has  just  been 
made  there  were  other  people  who  came  ever  and  again  to  the 
Bedford  of  those  days  whom  it  must  have  been  pleasant  to 
meet.  The  old  house  in  the  south-west  corner  of  St.  Paul's 
Square,  recently  removed  to  extend  the  grammar-school,  was 
inhabited  in  the  early  part  of  last  century  by  Thomas  Woodward, 
a  brewer.  His  father  was  the  Thomas  Woodward  who  was 
one  of  Bunyan's  administrators  in  1688,  and  he  himself  was 
a  deacon  of  the  church,  and  had  married,  as  has  been  said,  one 
of  the  Nonconformist  daughters  of  Sir  Francis  Wingate.  After 
him  there  lived  in  the  old  house  his  nephew,  Francis  Jennings, 
the  son  of  the  Rev.  John  Jennings  of  Kibworth,  Doddridge's 
tutor.  He  too  was  a  member  of  the  Bedford  church,  and  a 
trustee,  though  it  must  be  owned  that  his  scarlet  slippers  and 
his  wife's  flowing  ringlets  were  regarded  by  the  more  sober 
brethren  and  sisters  as  coming  perilously  near  the  doubtful 
ways  of  an  evil  world.  After  Francis  Jennings'  death,  in  1765, 
the  Rev.  James  Belsham  came  to  live  in  the  house  so  long  asso- 
ciated with  the  family  into  which  he  had  married.    In  his  time 

*  This  brass  chandelier  now  lightens  the  wintry  darkness  at  Gotten  EnJ 
Meeting,  while  Howard's  pulpit  is  to  be  seen  in  the  little  village  chapel  at 
Goldington. 


1774.]  BUNTAN'S  DESCENDAXTS  AND  SUCCESSORS.  419 

again  it  was  still  the  centre  of  refined  intercourse,  lighted  up  by 
the  presence  of  his  wife,  a  gentlewoman  whose  letters  show  how 
culture  and  piety  may  be  blended.  The  circle  included  also 
his  two  sons,  Thomas  and  "William  Belsham,  men  of  intel- 
lectual mark,  and  his  daughter  Elizabeth,  whom  her  cousin, 
Anna  Loctitia  Aikin,  afterwards  better  known  as  Mrs.  Barbuuld, 
addresses  playfully  as  "  Betsy,  the  joy  of  the  plain,"  and  whom 
she  describes  as  one  who,  while  "  accustomed  to  mix  in  the 
most  elegant  company,  can  make  herself  happy  in  the  plainest, 
and  make  them  happy  by  her  condescension." 

Mrs.  Barbauld  herself  was  often  a  guest  in  the  house,  as 
were  her  brother,  Dr.  Aikin,  and  his  daughter  Lucy,  with 
their  kinsman,  Gilbert  Wakefield,  all  of  them  people  of  some 
literary  reputation.  At  an  earlier  time  also  Dr.  Doddridge 
had  tarried  here  with  the  Jenningses,  with  whom  he  had 
been  so  intimately  associated,  and  it  was  here,  too,  as  well 
as  at  Warrington,  that  John  Howard  and  John  Aikin  con- 
ferred together  and  put  into  shape  that  book  on  the  "  State  of 
Prisons,"  by  which  the  great  philanthropist  roused  the  con- 
science both  of  the  Parliament  and  the  people  of  England. 
It  would  seem,  indeed,  that  out  of  these  meetings  in  St. 
Paul's  Square  there  might  easily  have  grown  a  closer  tie 
between  the  grave  philanthropist  and  the  poetical  and  viva- 
cious Anna  La}titia.  It  is  said  by  one  of  her  kinsfolk  tliat 
after  the  death  of  his  wife  Henrietta,  Howard  made  her  an 
otier  of  marriage,  a  statement  which  seems  to  be  borne  out 
by  the  last  letter  she  wrote  before  her  marriage  with  Mr. 
liurbauld  to  her  friend  Betsy  ]ielsham  (May  2.ind,  1774),  in 
which  she  says :  "  It  was  too  late,  as  you  say,  or  I  believe  1 
should  have  been  in  love  with  ^Ir.  Howard.  Seriously,  I  looked 
upon  him  with  that  sort  of  reverence  and  love  which  one  should 
have  for  a  guardian  angel.  God  bless  him  and  preserve  his 
health  for  the  health  sake  of  thousands."  That  year,  tliougli 
returned  at  the  poll,  Howard  was  defeated  on  an  encjuiry 
in  committee  of  the  House  of  Connnuns  as  to  the  validity 
of  certain  votes,  in  the  election  for  the  borough,  Sir  William 
Wuke  being  returned  along  witii  Mr.  Whithread.  On  thin 
Mrs.  liarbauld  wrote  to  her  friend  :  "  Truly,  1  did  not  know 
whether  I  was  in  charity  enough  with   Hedford  to  write  to  you 

KU2 


420  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

at  all.  No,  never  more  shall  I  think  of  you  with  patience. 
If  it  were  in  my  power  I  believe  I  should  put  your  town 
under  a  sentence  of  excommunication.  Your  worthy  Mayor, 
Mr.  Cawne,  I  see  by  the  newspapers,  has  acted  very  wisely, 
and  slipped  out  of  the  way,  not  chusing  to  have  his  house 
pulled  over  his  head.  I  commend  him  for  it.*  All  I  can 
say  to  you  is,  that  you  should  shake  off  the  dust  of  your 
feet  against  the  town  and  come  to  us  at  Palgrave,  where  we 
will  drink  Mr.  Howard's  health  every  day  in  a  glass  of 
lemonade,  and  wish,  not  that  he  should  represent  his  unworthy 
borough,  but  that  they  in  some  degree  may  resemble  him.  As 
Mr.  Whitbread  is,  however,  chosen,  I  should  be  glad  to  know 
how  you  disposed  of  the  favour  you  said  you  had  made  up, 
whether  you  wore  that  on  one  sleeve  and  a  mourning  knot  on 
the  other,  or  how  you  managed  ?  "  f 

While  the  little  provincial  town  was  brightened  by  such 
people  as  these — of  more  than  provincial  fame — there  were  other 
visitors  also  who,  as  Joshua  Symonds'  daughter  tells  us,  looked 
in  at  her  father's  manse,  as  it  stood  in  its  pleasant  garden  and 
orchard  in  "Well  Street.  Lady  Austen,  the  friend  of  Cowper, 
and  Thomas  Scott,  the  commentator,  from  Weston  Underwood  ; 
John  Newton,  also  from  Olney,  called  in  on  his  way  to  his  friend 
Barham,  the  retired  West  India  planter,  a  member  of  the 
Moravian  Church,  who  lived  on  the  other  side  of  Foster's  Hill. 
To  the  manse  also  Newton  sent  to  his  friend  Symonds  some  of 
those  characteristic  letters  which  were  afterwards  printed  in  the 
"  Cardiphonia."  Here  also  came  year  by  year  John  Thornton 
the  banker,  Wilberforce's  brother-in-law,  his  carriage  so  stacked 
up  with  Bibles,  Testaments,  and  other  good  books  for  distribu- 
tion that  there  was  scarcely  room  for  himself,  and  after  leaving 
£15  or  £20  for  benevolent  purposes  went  on  his  way  again. 
Joshua  Symonds'  daughter,  Mrs.  Emery,  who  preserve  I  so 
many  of  these  gossiping  details  for  us,  was  herself  a  curiosity 
worthy  of  mention.     She  died  as  lately  as  1862,  at  the  age  of 

*  The  mayor  in  order  to  defeat  ]\Ir.  Howard,  who  was  regarded  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  "Presbyterians,  Moravians,  and  other  sectaries,"  had  struck  off  from 
the  poll,  after  the  election  and  for  the  first  time,  the  votes  of  all  recipients  of  the 
Harpur  Charity. 

t  From  unpublished  letters  from  Mrs.  Barbauld  to  Miss  Belsham,  now  in  the 
possession  of  Miss  Kuid,  llaui].>stead. 


1TT4.]  BFXYjyS  BESCEXDAXTS  AXD  SUCCESSORS.  421 

ninety-three,  and  remembered  three  generations  of  her  ancestors, 
and  saw  four  of  her  descendants.  She  recalled  how,  as  a  child, 
she  had  been  lifted  up  to  the  window  to  see  a  gentleman  carry- 
ing an  umbrella,  as  one  of  tlie  latest  novelties  ;  how  she  rode 
to  London  in  her  uncle's  carriage,  the  postillion  avoiding  the 
main  streets  as  they  approached  the  city,  because  the  buildings 
were  on  fire  from  the  Gordon  Riots,  and  the  rioters  were  raging  ; 
and  she  could  distinctly  recollect  her  great-grandfather,  Mr. 
Ludd,  who,  born  in  the  year  of  the  Revolution,  lived  to  be 
ninety,  so  that  these  two  lives  stretched  from  1G88  to 
18G2. 

Joshua  Symonds,  like  his  predecessors  Chandler  and  Sander- 
son, was  a  Pa}do-baptist  on  his  first  coming  to  Bedford,  but 
six  years  later  he  publicly  announced  his  adoption  of  Baptist 
views.  Conscientious  and  frankly  honest,  he  wished,  he  said, 
to  be  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  baptizing  infants  or  adults 
by  aspersion,  and  promised  that  if  he  might  have  liberty  of 
conscience  in  the  matter  he  would  do  nothing  to  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  Church  on  the  question  at  issue.  This  was  in 
February,  1772,  and  the  Church  resolved  to  take  a  year  for 
deliberation  before  coming  to  a  final  conclusion  as  to  his  con- 
tinuance as  their  pastor.  In  the  month  of  July,  however, 
objection  was  taken  by  some  that  he  was  seeking  unduly  to 
spread  his  views  among  those  already  in  fellowship.  John 
Howard,  who  seems  to  have  felt  strongl}--  on  the  matter,  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  the  deacons,  while  another  brother  sent  one  to 
the  Church,  in  remonstrance  and  protesting  against  tlie  con- 
tinuatice  of  Mr.  Symonds.  The  majority  were,  however,  in 
favour  of  his  continuance,  provided  he  would  make  arrangements 
for  the  baptism  of  their  children  and  would  refrain  from  undue 
proselytism  to  the  views  he  had  embraced.  Upon  this,  John 
Howard  and  other  members  of  the  congregation  withdrew  and 
f'urmcd  a  separate  Church,  worshipjjing  in  what  was  at  first 
called  the  Second  Meeting  and  is  now  known  as  I  Toward 
Cliapel.  It  is  pleasant  to  find  froju  Mr.  Symonds'  Diary  that 
he  and  the  great  pliilanthropist  remained  in  unbroken  i'rieud- 
sl)ip  oven  when  separated  in  their  fellowship,  and  tluit  John 
II(jward  8ubse(iuently  subscribed  I' 10  towards  the  stipend  of 
the  minister  whoso  services  he  had  left. 


422  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

After  this  separation  a  new  Trust  Deed  was  drawn  up  in 
1774,  and  the  Church  at  the  Old  Meeting  was,  for  the  first 
time  in  its  history,  defined  and  described  as  a  "  Congregation 
or  Society  of  Protestants  Dissenting  from  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, commonly  called  Independents  or  Congregationalists, 
holding  mixt  communion  with  those  who  scruple  the  Baptizing 
of  Infants,  commonly  called  Baptists,"  This  description  has 
been  continued  in  subsequent  deeds. 

In  1773,  the  Senatus  Academicus  of  Rhode  Island,  now 
Brown  University,  United  States,  conferred  upon  Mr.  Symonds 
the  honorary  degree  of  M.A.,  a  similar  distinction  being 
accorded  at  the  same  time  to  Augustus  Toplady,  John  Newton, 
Robert  Robinson,  of  Cambridge,  and  others.*  Mr.  Symonds' 
diploma  is  still  in  existence  and  is  one  of  the  latest  American 
documents  of  the  kind,  bearing  the  Colonial  Seal  of  Great 
Britain  with  the  embossed  medallions  of  King  George  and 
Queen  Charlotte  upon  it. 

Joshua  Symonds  died  November  23rd,  1788,  after  a  long 
and  trying  time  of  suffering,  and  was  succeeded  in  his  ministry 
by  Samuel  Hillyard,  who  first  came  to  Bedford  in  December, 
1790.  Born  at  Wellingborough,  in  1770,  he  was  the  son  of  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Hillyard,  afterwards  of  Olney,  and  was  trained  for 
his  work  in  the  Institution  presided  over  by  the  Rev.  William 
Bull  of  Newport  Pagnel.  A  mere  youth  of  twenty  he  came 
to  a  position  which  might  well  have  tried  a  much  older  man, 
for  there  were  discordant  elements,  the  issue  of  which  was 
another  secession,  and  the  formation  of  a  separate  Baptist 
Church  in  the  town.  But  with  singular  tact  and  amiability 
the  young  minister  bore  himself  so  as  to  pluck  up  weeds  and 
drain  away  waters  of  bitterness.  During  the  nearly  forty- 
nine  years  he  presided  over  them,  the  church  and  congregation 
steadily  grew  in  numbers  and  influence,  obtaining  a  position 
not  reached  hitherto  in  their  history^  Genial  and  kindly  in 
the  common  intercourse  of  life,  and  most  persuasive  as  a 
preacher  of  Christ's  Gospel,  Samuel  Hillyard,  like  his  distin- 
guished predecessor  John  Bunyan,  was  a  veritable  Bishop 
among  the  churches  of  the  county  and  even  beyond  the  county 

*  Early  History  of  Brown   University.     By  R.  A.  Guild,  Librarian.     Boston, 
1864. 


1830.]  BUXYJX'S  DESCENDANTS  AND  SUCCESSORS.  423 

border.  Every  good  cause  seemed  to  awaken  the  interest  and 
inspire  the  ardour  of  this  warm-hearted  man  :  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  heathen  abroad,  and  the  spreading  the  gospel 
among  the  villages  of  Bedfordshire  at  home ;  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  slave,  and  the  enfranchisement  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen.  He  worked  with  all  his  heart  for  Bible,  Mission- 
ary, and  Tract  Societies,  and  just  as  earnestlj'  stood  up  on  the 
Bedford  hustings  of  1830,  to  second  the  nomination  of  Lord 
John  Russell  as  a  candidate  for  the  borough,  before  the  bring- 
ing in  of  Reform.  Passionately  attached  to  the  great  principles 
of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  and  urging  his  co-religionists  to 
support  Lord  John  and  the  House  of  Russell  on  the  principle 
that  your  own  friends  and  your  father's  friends  you  should 
forsake  not,  he  held  his  own  position  with  firmness  and  yet 
with  such  perfect  good -temper  and  gentlemanly  feeling,  that  he 
seems  never  to  have  made  an  enemy  or  lost  a  friend.  Staunch 
dissenter  as  he  was,  clergymen,  like  his  neighbours  Legh 
Richmond  of  Turvey,  A.  J,  Crespin  of  Renhold,  and  R.  P. 
Beachcroft  of  Blunham,  were  his  co- secretaries  in  working 
the  great  religious  societies  of  the  time.  Among  his  own 
brethren,  it  goes  without  saying,  he  held  a  high  place.  In 
the  circle  of  his  friends,  as  frequent  visitors  at  Bedford,  were 
Andrew  Fuller  and  Thomas  Toller  of  Kettering,  and  Robert 
Hall  of  Leicester.  This  last  distinguished  preacher  used  to  say, 
with  a  smile,  that  his  friend,  was  the  very  pine-apple  of 
humanity  for  sweetness,  and  that  no  man  loved  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  aright  who  could  not  love  the  Rev.  Samuel  Ilillj'ard  of 
Bedford.  It  was  on  one  of  those  friendly  ministerial  reunions 
which  if  not  more  frequent  were  more  leisurely  before  railway 
times  than  now,  that  Thomas  Toller  preached  that  memorable 
sermon  at  the  Old  Meeting,  at  liedford,  to  which  Robert  Hall 
tolls  us  he  listened  and  of  which,  prince  of  preachers  as  he  was 
himself,  he  said  :  "  The  effect  of  this  discourse  on  the  audience 
was  such  as  I  have  never  witnessed  before  or  since.  .  .  .  All 
other  emotions  were  absorbed  in  devotional  feeling :  it  seemed 
to  us  as  though  we  were  [)ermitted  for  a  short  space  to  look 
into  eternity,  and  every  sublunary  object  vanished  before  *  the 
powers  of  the  world  to  come.'"* 

•  Jlair,  H-urki,i\.,  315. 


424  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

Loved  by,  and  loving  such  friends  as  these,  and  loved  most 
of  all  by  the  people  among  whom  he  spent  a  public  life  of 
nearly  half  a  century,  Samuel  Hillyard  was  called  to  his  rest 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1839.  It  is  therefore  now  more  than 
forty  years  since  he  passed  away,  and  those  who  remember  him 
are  growing  few ;  but  with  those  few  his  memory  is  still  frag- 
rant, and  they  rarely  speak  of  him  but  with  some  kind  word 
expressive  of  enduring  esteem. 

We  are  close  upon  our  own  day  when  we  come  to  his  succes- 
sor, the  Rev.  John  Jukes,  formerly  of  Yeovil,  who  settled  at 
Bedford  on  the  first  Sunday  of  1840.  Along  with  Dr.  Vaughan, 
afterwards  president  of  the  Lancashire  College,  he  was  placed 
under  the  care  of  the  He  v.  John  Thorp  of  Bristol,  a  man  of 
some  eminence  in  his  day  as  a  preacher.  In  many  respects  a 
contrast  to  his  predecessor,  Mr,  Jukes  was  yet  a  man  of  weight 
and  worth,  who  did  good  service  of  a  steady  solid  sort  through 
the  more  than  twenty-six  years  he  was  pastor  of  the  Bedford 
Church.  Defective  in  the  quality  of  humour  and  in  power 
of  imagination,  his  preaching  was  yet  instructive  and  impres- 
sive, and  his  conduct  in  public  life,  if  erring  on  the  side  of 
caution,  was  marked  by  firmness  and  kindliness.  Together 
with  his  friend  and  neighbour,  the  Rev.  William  Alliott  of 
Howard  Chapel,  he  carried  on  a  missionary  college  at  Bedford, 
in  which  were  trained  very  many  of  those  sent  out  by  the 
London  Missionary  Society,  besides  many  other  young  men 
who  were  preparing  for  colleges  elsewhere  with  a  view  to  the 
ministry  at  home. 

In  1849  the  venerable  three-ridged  Meeting  was  taken 
down,  the  present  place  of  worship  being  erected  on  the  site 
and  opened  in  1850.  From  1854  Mr.  Jukes  had  as  co-pastor 
the  Rev.  J.  J.  Insull,  a  man  of  earnest  spirit,  who  died  in  the 
autumn  of  1863.  The  same  year  in  which  this  colleague  died, 
the  senior  minister  himself  sustained  a  serious  shock  to  his 
health,  and  within  three  years  from  that  time  was  called  to 
his  rest  on  the  22nd  of  May,  1866,  in  the  sixty- sixth  year  of 
his  age.  The  scene  at  his  funeral  was  a  remarkable  manifesta- 
tion  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  the  town  at  large. 
On  the  hillside  on  which  the  cemetery  stands  it  seemed  as  if 
the  whole  community  had  come  forth  to  express  the  widespread 


187(i.]  BUXYAX'S  BESdJXDAXTS  AXD  SUC'Ci:SSOriS.  4-Jj 

feelinff  that  a  consistent,   honourable,  and  useful  career  had 
come  to  its  close. 

The  present  writer,  who  is  now  the  minister,  accepted  the 
invitation  of  the  Bedford  Church  on  the  loth  of  April,  18G4. 
In  1SG7  the  new  school-buildinp^s  behind  Bunyan  Meetinj^ 
were  opened,  and  in  1876  the  Duke  of  Bedford  presented  to 
the  congregation  the  noble  bronze  doors  at  the  entrance  of 
their  place  of  worship.  These  doors  are  the  work  of  Mr. 
Frederick  Thrupp,  and  are  marked  by  fine  artistic  feeling  and 
power,  the  sense  of  which  grows  upon  us  as  we  look.  There 
are  ten  panels  in  alto-relievo,  presenting  these  ten  scenes  from 
the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  : — (1)  Christian  reproached  by  his 
family ;  (2)  Goodwill  helping  Christian  through  the  gate  ; 
(3)  Christian  met  by  the  Shining  Ones ;  (4)  Christian  sleeping 
in  the  arbour  ;  (o)  Christian  passing  the  lions ;  (6)  Simple, 
Sloth,  and  Presumption  ;  (7)  In  the  armoury  of  the  Palace 
Beautiful ;  (8)  Demas  in  the  Silver  ^Mine  ;  (9)  The  death  of 
Faithful ;  (10)  Crossing  the  River.  Mr.  Thrupp  was  engaged 
upon  this  work  for  more  than  two  years,  simply  as  a  labour  of 
love,  and  without  any  conception  as  to  its  ultimate  destination. 
Eventually,  a  brother  artist,  Mr.  Richmond  struck,  by  the  beauty 
and  feeling  expressed  in  these  scenes  from  the  '*  Pilgrim," 
brouerht  them  under  the  notice  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  whose 
generous  kindness  seized  the  opportunity  of  giving  to  tho 
town  of  Bedford  a  noble  work  of  art  which  will  be  a  possession 
for  ever,  and  to  the  artist  himself  the  pleasant  satisfaction  of 
feeling  that  his  work  stands  where  for  so  many  years  Bunyan 
himself  stood  as  a  preacher  of  the  truth. 

The  sketch  thus  briefly  given  is  a  faithfully  told  story  of 
one  of  tho  free  churches  of  this  country  wliich  is  still  strong 
and  vigorous  after  tho  vicissitudes  of  more  than  two  centuries. 
It  still  carries  on  its  Christian  work  in  tho  town  and  in  tho 
villages  round  as  in  tlie  old  days,  and  may  fairly  bo  regarded 
as  a  reliable  testimony  to  the  worth  and  enduringness  of  Chris- 
tian williiigliood.  Cradled  in  the  storms  of  persecution,  it  has 
outlived  them,  and  through  evil  report  and  good  report  pursued 
its  beneficent  course  to  this  day.  It  lias  asked  nothing  from 
tho  State  but  freedom  to  work  out  those  convictions  of  the 
Christian   life  received   from   Christ  lliinsclf  and   unfohh-d   by 


426  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvii. 

tlie  Spirit  of  God.  In  the  long-continued  harmony  and 
enduring  peace  of  its  fellowship  it  has  seemed  as  if  the  bene- 
dictions of  the  sainted  confessors  of  the  earlier  time  still 
hovered  near.  What  is  perhaps  unique  in  the  history  of  a 
church,  all  its  former  ministers,  as  this  narrative  has  shown, 
have  continued  at  their  post  of  service  till  death  itself  removed 
them.  In  the  month  of  August,  1888,  two  centuries  will  have 
passed  since  Bunyan  died,  yet  the  present  minister  is  only  the 
sixth  in  succession  since  that  great  Englishman  laid  down  his 
trust. 

And  while  in  previous  years  and  generations  there  have  been 
honourable  and  able  men  in  the  pulpit,  there  have  also  been 
honourable  and  devout  men  and  women  in  the  pew,  of  whom 
any  Christian  community  might  well  be  proud.  From  the 
times  of  John  Eston,  Anthony  Harrington,  and  "  that  reverend 
man,  John  Grew  ;  "  from  the  days  of  those  devout  women  who 
sat  talking  in  the  summer's  sunshine  of  the  joys  and  sorrows 
of  the  spiritual  life,  down  to  our  own  times,  there  has  been  a 
long  and  unbroken  succession  of  Christian  men  and  women,  of 
very  many  of  whom  it  may  indeed  be  said  that  they  were  the 
excellent  of  the  earth.  We  glorify  God  in  them.  Hecalling 
the  long  and  honourable  roll  of  the  sainted  dead  we  but  the 
more  magnify  their  Saviour  and  ours,  that  Saviour  whose 
divine  beauty,  shining  through  them,  made  them  what  they 
were,  and  in  whose  eternal  life  both  they  and  we  find  that  true 
unity  of  the  Church  which  in  systems  and  creeds  will  ever  be 
sought  for  in  vain. 


XVIII. 

BUXYAN'S   POSTHUMOUS   PUBLICATIONS. 

For  the  preservation  of  those  MSS.  of  Bunyan  which  remained 
unpublished  at  the  time  of  his  death  we  are  indebted  to  the 
untiring  devotion  of  his  enthusiastic  admirer,  Charles  Doe, 
who  tells  us  in  his  own  good,  simple  way  how  he,  a  comb-maker, 
came  to  take  in  hand  the  publishing  and  selling  of  books. 
After  narrating  how  he  first  became  acquainted  with  Bunyan, 
as  already  described  (p.  385),  he  goes  on  to  say  : — 

"In  March.  1686,  as  I  was  reading  Mr.  Bunyan's  Book  Saved  by 
Grace,  I  thought  certainly  this  is  the  best  Book  tliat  was  ever  writ 
or  I  read  except  the  Bible,  and  then  I  remembered  I  had  received 
a  great  deal  of  comfort  in  all  of  his  Books.  Some  time  after  my 
assurance,  and  being  under  the  sense  of  the  peculiar  Love  of  God, 
it  came  into  my  mind  as  I  was  upon  my  Stair-head  what  work  I 
should  do  for  God,  aud  about  the  middle  of  the  Stairs  I  reckoned 
that  to  sell  books  was  the  best  I  could  do,  and  by  that  time  I 
came  to  the  bottom  I  concluded  to  sell  Mr.  Bunyan's,  and  so  I  began 
to  sell  Books  and  have  sold  about  3,000  of  Mr.  Bunyan's,  and  also 
have  been  concerned  in  printing  the  following  Books :  The  works 
of  ^fr.  John  Bunyan  in  folio,  and  the  Jlcavcniij  Fuotman  by  John 
Bunyan." 

This  account  i.s  given  in  a  little  book  entitled  "  A  Collection 
of  Experience,  by  Charles  Doe.  liondon  :  Printed  by  Charles 
Doe,  a  Comb-maker,  between  the  Hospital  and  London  Bridge, 
1700." 

It  would  appear  that  tlicre  had  been  some  scheme  jjrojected 
in  the  author's  lifetime  for  publishing  a  Collected  Edition  of 
the  Works  of  Bunyan.  Doe  describes  the  folio  edition  of  1002 
a«  "containing  ten  of  his  excellent  manuscrij)ts  prepared 
for  the  press  before  his  death,  never  before  printed,  and  Ten  of 


428  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap,  xviii. 

his  Choyce  Books  formerly  printed.  Collected  and  Printed 
by  the  Procurement  of  his  Church  and  Friends,  and  hy  his 
oion  Approbation  before  Jiis  Death."  Elsewhere  also  in  his 
*' Strugg-ler "  he  says:  "It  had  succeeded  in  Mr.  Bunyan's- 
lifetime  even  all  his  labours  in  folio ;  but  that  an  interested 
Bookseller  opposed  it."  Chandler  and  Wilson  add:  "The 
Propriety  of  several  pieces  already  Printed  is  lodg'd  in  Par- 
ticular Persons'  hands  who  were  not  willing,  to  resign  up  their 
Rights  at  reasonable  Pates."  Probably  this  refers  mainly  to 
Nathaniel  Ponder,  who,  having  for  some  time  past  discovered 
that  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  was  a  good  book  in  a  sense 
other  than  the  religious  one,  was  unwilling  to  let  go  his  hold  of 
it  even  so  far  as  to  let  it  appear  in  folio  form.  Possibly  also  the 
same  difficulty  prevented  the  completion  of  Doe's  design;  for 
while  on  his  title-page  he  has  the  words — the  first  volume — 
no  second  volume  made  its  appearance  till  more  than  forty 
years  afterwards.  Soon  after  Bunyan's  death,  therefore.  Doe 
set  about  the  preparation  of  the  first  volume  of  the  collected 
works.  Many  of  them  in  their  separate  form  were  growing 
scarce  even  then.  He  had,  he  says,  by  great  labour  secured 
a  single  copy  of  some  of  them,  and  that  others  '*  are  not 
to  be  bought ;  and  that  I  have  proved  by  often  trying  most 
London  booksellers ;  and  before  that,  given  them  about  twice 
the  price  for  a  book ;  and  I  know  not  how  to  get  another 
of  those  sorts  for  any  price  whatsoever."  He  first  issued,  in 
1691,  a  circular  containing  thirty  "Reasons  why  Christian 
People  should  Promote  by  subscription  the  Printing  in  folio 
the  labours  of  Mr.  John  Bunyan."  When  the  volume  appeared 
he  tells  us  that  "notwithstanding  the  many  discouragements 
I  have  met  with  in  my  struggles  in  this  so  great  a  work,  we 
have  (and  I  may  believe  by  the  blessing  of  the  Lord) 
gotten  about  400  subscriptions,  whereof  about  thirty  are 
ministers." 

It  was  intended  to  issue  the  work  to  subscribers  at  about 
twelve  shillings  for  a  book  containing  140  sheets,  but  "by 
reason  of  the  smallness  of  the  writing  of  the  manuscript  it 
could  not  be  so  exactly  computed  " — as  the  Church  Book  shows, 
Bunyan  had  two  styles  of  handwriting,  one  bolder,  and  one 
exceedingly  minute — so  that  the  volume  ran  on  to  155  sheets. 


1692.]     HUXYAX'S  P0S7'irrJll0l7S  PUBLICATIONS.      429 

and  the  price  to  a  shilling  move,  with  which  Doe  hopes  the 
subscribers  will  not  be  displeased. 

This  folio  edition  of  1G92  was  prefaced  by  an  epistle  to  the 
reader,  the  joint  production  of  Ebenezer  Chandler,  Bunyan's 
successor  at  Bedford,  and  John  AYilson,  the  minister  at 
Ilitchin,  his  friend  of  many  years.  It  was  printed  and  pub- 
lished by  William  Marshall,  at  the  Bible,  in  Newgate  Street, 
and  had  for  a  frontispiece  the  engraved  portrait  of  Bunyan  by 
Sturt.  It  contained  also  a  folded  sheet  with  engraved  "  map, 
shewing  the  order  and  causes  of  salvation  and  damnation ;  "  on 
one  half  being  shown  the  path  of  life,  and  on  the  other  the  way 
of  death.  This  map  was  originally  published  as  a  broadside 
about  the  year  1(364,  and  sold  for  sixpence. 

The  following  were  the  ten  new  MSS.  contained  in  the 
volume  and  prepared  for  the  press  by  Bunyan  himself: — 

(1).  "An  Exposition  on  the  Ten  first  chapters  of  Genesis 
and  part  of  the  Eleventh."  This  work  ends  abruptly  in  the 
midst  of  an  account  of  the  Tower  of  Babel,  and  with  this  note, 
*'  5^  This  is  all  Mr.  Bunyan  hath  writ  of  this  Exposition,  as 
we  perceive  by  the  blank  paper  following  the  manuscript."  It 
would  seem  as  if  he  had  intended  this  fragment  as  the  com- 
mencement of  a  continuous  Commentary  on  the  Scriptures. 
Speaking  of  the  Sabbath  of  Creation  (Gen.  ii.  3),  he  refers  to 
the  Sabbath  of  weeks,  the  Sabbath  of  years,  and  the  great 
jubilee  enjoined  in  Leviticus  xxv.  1-13,  and  adds  :  "  Of  all 
which  more  in  their  place  if  God  permit."  There  is  perliaps 
no  great  reason  to  regret  that  this  intention  was  not  fullilltd. 
Bunyan's  special  forte  was  not  exegesis.  What  he  could  do 
and  do  admirably  was  to  take  accepted  views  of  truth,  and 
make  them  luminous  and  living  by  the  radiance  of  his  own 
genius.  What  neither  his  training  nor  the  qualities  of  his 
mind  fitted  him  for,  was  the  judicial  weighing  of  evidence,  the 
power  of  forming  a  profound  estimate  of  the  growth  and  unity 
of  Revelation,  or  of  following  the  strict  logical  sequence  of  a 
line  of  scripture  tliought.  In  this  exposition  of  tlie  book  of 
Genesis,  us  we  might  expect,  he  accepts  easily  the  points  most 
controverted  now  ;  after  the  manner  of  his  time,  he  shines  in 
conceits  which  have  become  obsolete,  and  falls  into  that 
spiritualizing  of  historic  fact  and   circumstance  which  has  so 


4.30  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap,  xviii. 

often  and  so  seriously  hindered  a  true  spiritual  interpretation. 
This,  however,  was  the  vice  of  his  age,  and  Bunyan  has  it  in 
far  less  degree  than  many  of  his  contemporaries,  his  strong 
common  sense  having  saved  him.  For  instance,  when  he  comes 
to  speak  of  the  Ark  and  its  construction,  one  storey  being  above 
another,  he  sees  in  this  a  foreshadowing  that  in  the  Church  of 
Christ  there  would  be  some  higher  than  some,  apostles  above 
pastors ;  and  also  degrees  of  glory,  rank  above  rank  in  the 
Christian  life.  On  the  other  hand,  where  he  finds  mentioned 
the  month  and  the  exact  day  of  the  month  when  the  flood  came 
upon  the  earth,  he  hesitates  whether  he  oxight  or  ought  not  to 
attach  spiritual  significance  to  these  particulars  :  "  For  I  dare 
not  say  this  scribe  wrote  this  in  vain,  or  that  it  was  needless 
thus  to  punctilio  it ;  a  mystery  is  in  it,  but  my  darkness  sees 
it  not :    I  must  speak  according  to  the  proportion  of  faith." 

(2).  The  treatise,  "  Justification  by  imputed  righteousness," 
is  in  the  line  of  previous  writings  of  his,  and  is  an  unfolding 
and  enforcement  of  the  proposition  "  that  there  is  no  other  way 
for  sinners  to  be  justified  from  the  curse  of  the  law  in  the 
sight  of  God  than  by  the  imputation  of  that  righteousness  long 
ago  performed  by,  and  still  residing  with,  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ."  He  bases  the  relation  of  Christ  and  the  believer  upon 
the  community  of  nature  between  Christ  and  humanity.  The 
Son  of  God  took  hold  of  us  by  taking  upon  him  flesh  and 
blood.  He  took  not  on  him  a  particular  person,  though  he 
took  to  him  a  human  body  and  soul ;  but  that  which  he  took 
was,  as  I  may  call  it,  a  lump  of  the  common  nature  of  man. 
Hence  he  in  a  mystery  became  tis  and  was  counted  as  all  the 
men  that  were  or  should  be  saved.  And  this  is  the  reason  why 
we  are  said  to  do  when  only  Jesus  Christ  did  do.  The  defect 
of  Bunyan's  position  is,  that  while  he  sees  Christ's  federal 
relation  to  the  race  he  restricts  Christ's  atonement  to  the  elect, 
saying  that  all  the  elect  did  righteousness  when  Christ  wrought 
and  fulfilled  the  law.  Passing  from  this  he  shows  that  by  the 
law  we  have  not  salvation  but  only  a  deeper  knowledge  of  our 
own  sin.  There  is  the  meeting  of  opposites — the  law  is  spiritual, 
I  am  carnal.  Strike  a  steel  against  a  flint  and  the  fire  flies 
about  you ;  strike  the  law  against  a  carnal  heart  and  sin  ap- 
pears, sin  multiplies,  sin  rageth,  sin  is  strengthened.    And  con- 


1G92.]     BUSYAy'S  FOSTJTUJWUS  PUBLICATIONS.      431 

science  is  Little-ease  if  men  resist  it,  whether  it  be  rightly  or 
wrongly  informed.  Speaking  towards  the  close  on  the  inherent 
power  of  faith,  he  shows  that  it  doth  the  same  against  the  devil 
that  unbelief  doth  to  God.  Doth  unbelief  count  God  a  liar  ? 
Faith  counts  the  devil  a  liar.  Doth  unbelief  hold  the  soul 
from  the  mercy  of  God  ?  Faith  holds  the  soul  from  the  malice 
of  the  devil.  Doth  unbelief  quench  thy  graces  ?  Faith  kindleth 
them  even  into  a  flame.  Doth  unbelief  fill  the  soul  full  of 
sorrow  ?  Faith  fills  it  full  of  the  joy  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In 
a  word,  doth  unbelief  bind  down  thy  sins  upon  thee  ?  Why, 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ  releaseth  thee  of  them  all. 

(3).  The  next  of  the  MSS.,  first  published  in  1692,  is  en- 
titled "  Paul's  Departure  and  Crown,"  being  an  extended  sermon 
on  2  Tim.  iv.  6-8.  lie  shows  what  it  is  to  be  ofiiered  up  and 
what  to  be  ready  to  be  offered  up.  Paul  sees  in  death  some- 
thins:  more  than  the  common  fate  of  men.  As  a  believer's 
prayers  and  praises  are  a  sacrifice  and  an  acceptable  offering  to 
God,  so  should  his  death  and  martyrdom  for  the  Gospel  be  both 
sweet  in  the  nostrils  of  God  and  of  profit  to  his  Church,  To 
be  ready  to  be  offered  is  to  be  daily  in  the  posture  of  fidelity. 
Both  Enoch  and  Noah  walked  with  God,  that  is,  they  kept 
touch  with  him,  still  keeping  up  to  the  work  and  duty  that 
every  day  required,  not  doing  their  duty  by  fits  and  starts,  but 
in  a  fervent  spirit  they  served  the  Lord.  It  is  said  also  of 
Abraham  that  he  died  in  a  good  old  age,  thereby  insinuating 
that  he  made  both  ends  meet  together,  the  end  of  his  work  with 
the  end  of  his  days.  It  is  not  thus  with  all.  Religion  to 
most  men  is  but  a  by-business,  with  which  they  use  to  fill  up 
spare  hours  ;  or  as  a  stalking-horse,  which  is  used  to  catch  the 
game.  We  should  try  to  get  at  the  real  facts  of  the  case 
between  this  world  and  the  next.  Take,  then,  heed  ;  Satan  is 
here  a  mighty  artist,  and  can  show  us  all  earthly  things  in  u 
multiplying  ghxss  ;  but  when  we  look  up  to  things  above  wo  soo 
them  as  tlir(jugh  sackcloth  of  hair.  Honours,  pleasures,  and  the 
like,  are,  after  all,  but  poor,  low,  base  things,  und  he  tliat  hath 
the  most  of  them  may  in  the  fulness  of  his  sufficiency  be  in 
straits.  A  horse  that  is  loaded  with  g(;ld  and  pearls  all  day  may 
have  u  foul  stable  and  a  galled  back  ut  night.  And  woo  bo  to 
him  that  increaseth  that  which  is  not  his,  and  that  ladeth  himself 


432  JOBN  BUNYAN.  [chap,  xviii. 

with  thick  clay.  0  man  of  God,  throw  this  bone  to  the  dogs  ; 
suck  not  at  it,  there  is  no  marrow  there.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  men  are  faithful  they  have  peace  at  their  latter  end. 
Ah !  when  God  makes  the  bed  he  must  needs  lie  easy  that 
weakness  hath  cast  thereon  ;  a  blessed  pillow  hath  that  man  for 
his  head  though  to  all  beholders  it  is  as  hard  as  a  stone.  I  once 
was  told  a  story  of  what  happened  at  a  good  man's  death,  the 
which  I  have  often  remembered  with  wonderment  and  gladness. 
After  he  had  lain  for  some  time  sick  his  turn  came  that  he 
must  depart,  and  behold  while  he  lay,  as  we  call  it,  drawing  on, 
to  the  amazement  of  the  mourners  there  was  heard  about 
his  bed  such  blessed  and  ravishing  music  as  they  never  heard 
before  ;  which  also  continued  till  his  soul  departed,  and  then 
began  to  cease,  and  grow,  as  to  its  sound,  as  if  it  was  departing 
the  house  and  so  seemed  to  go  further  and  further  off  till  at 
last  they  could  hear  it  no  longer. 

(4).  Under  the  title  of  "  Israel's  Hope  Encouraged,"  Bunyan 
sets  forth  from  Psalm  cxxx.  7,  what  hope  is  and  how  it  is 
distinguished  from  faith.  Faith  comes  by  hearing,  hope  by 
experience  ;  faith  lays  hold  of  that  end  of  the  promise  that  is 
next  to  us,  to  wit,  as  it  is  in  the  Bible,  hope  lays  hold  of  that 
end  of  the  promise  that  is  fastened  to  the  mercy-seat :  for  the 
promise  is  like  a  mighty  cable  that  is  fastened  by  one  end  to  a 
ship  and  by  the  other  to  the  anchor.  Thus  faith  and  hope, 
getting  hold  of  both  ends  of  the  promise  they  carry  it  safely  all 
away.  Hope  saves  by  prevailing  with  the  soul  to  suffer  all 
troubles,  afflictions,  and  adversities,  betwixt  this  and  the  world 
to  come  for  the  sake  of  Christ.  Hope  has  a  thick  skin,  and 
will  endure  many  a  blow  ;  it  will  put  on  patience  as  a  vestment, 
it  will  wade  through  a  sea  of  blood,  it  will  endure  all  things,  if 
it  be  of  the  right  kind,  for  the  joy  that  is  set  before  it.  It  is 
for  want  of  hope  that  so  many  brisk  professors  that  have  so 
boasted  and  made  brags  of  their  faith,  have  not  been  able  to 
endure  the  drum  in  the  day  of  alarm  and  affliction.  We  have 
a  right  to  cherish  hope,  for  our  best  things  are  yet  behind  and 
in  reversion.  They  are  things  too  big  as  yet  to  enter  into  our 
hearts  and  things  too  big  if  they  were  there  to  come  out  or  to 
be  expressed  by  our  mouths.  There  is  heaven  itself,  the 
imperial  heaven  ;   does  anybody  know  what  that  is  ?     There  is 


1692.]    BUXYAX'S  POSTHUMOUS  PUBLICATIOXS.        43:{ 

the  Mount  Zion,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  the  innumerable 
company  of  angels :  doth  anybody  know  what  all  they  are  ? 
There  is  immortality  and  eternal  life  ;  and  who  knows  what 
they  are  ?  There  are  rewards  for  services  and  labours  of  love 
showed  to  God's  name  here  ;  and  who  knows  what  they  will 
be  ?  There  are  mansion-houses,  beds  of  glory,  and  places  to 
Avalk  in  among  the  angels  ;  and  who  knows  what  they  are  ? 
There  will  be  badges  of  honour,  harps  to  make  merry  with,  and 
heavenly  songs  of  triumph ;  doth  any  here  know  what  they 
are  ?  There  will  then  be  a  knowing,  an  enjoying,  and  a 
solacing  of  ourselves  with  prophets,  apostles,  and  martyrs,  and 
all  saints ;  but  in  what  glorious  manner  we  all  are  ignorant  of. 
There  we  shall  see  and  know,  and  be  with  for  ever,  all  our  rela- 
tions, as  wife,  husband,  child,  father,  mother,  brother,  or  sister, 
that  have  died  in  the  faith  ;  but  how  gloriously  they  will  look 
when  we  shall  see  them,  and  how  gloriously  w^o  shall  love  when 
we  are  with  them  it  is  not  for  us  in  this  world  to  know. 

Let  Israel,  therefore,  hope  in  the  Lord,  and  for  another 
reason  :  for  with  the  Lord  there  is  mercy,  tender  mercy,  great 
mercv,  he  is  rich  in  mercy,  there  is  with  him  a  multitude  of 
mercies.  And  as  they  are  called  a  multitude,  so  they  are  called 
mercicH  manifold.  There  is  no  single  flower  in  God's  gospel- 
garden,  they  are  all  double  and  treble  ;  there  is  a  wheel  within  a 
wheel,  a  blessing  within  a  blessing  in  all  the  mercies  of  God. 
^lanifold — a  man  cannot  receive  one  but  he  receives  many, 
many  folded  up,  one  within  another.  The  very  door  and  inlet 
into  all  these  mercies  is  Christ  Jesus  ;  therefore,  Christian  man, 
look  well  to  thyself,  that  thou  goest  no  whither,  and  dost 
nothing  but  as  thou  art  in  him.  Walk  in  him,  speak  in  him, 
grow  in  him,  for  he  is  the  all.  Many  there  be  that  count 
this  but  a  low  thing  ;  they  desire  to  soar  aloft,  to  fly  into  new 
notions,  and  to  be  broaching  of  new  opinions,  not  counting 
themselves  happy  except  they  can  throw  some  new-found  fangle, 
to  be  applauded  for,  among  their  novel-liearers  ;  but  fly  thou  to 
Christ  for  life.  And  remember  humbly  thy  sins.  There  bo 
Korae  alive  in  the  world,  who,  though  they  count  the  nature  and 
commiHsion  of  sin  the  very  evil  of  evils,  yet  can  say  that  the 
rememlirance  of  liow  vile  they  arc  and  of  what  evils  they  have 
committed,    has    been    to    tht-m     a    Koul-hunibling,    a    Christ- 


434  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvm. 

* 

advancing,  and  a  creature-emptying  consideration.  Hold  fast 
to  the  great  truth  of  a  Mediator.  It  is  with  many  that  begin 
with  this  doctrine  as  it  is  with  boys  that  go  to  the  Latin  school, 
they  learn  till  they  have  learned  the  grounds  of  their  grammar 
and  then  go  home  and  forget  all.  He  that  will  keep  water  in  a 
sieve  must  use  more  than  ordinary  diligence.  Our  heart  is  the 
leaky  vessel,  and  therefore  we  ought  to  give  the  more  earnest 
heed  to  the  things  which  we  have  heard,  lest  at  any  time  we 
should  let  them  slip. 

(5).  It  will  be  remembered  that  Charles  Doe  tells  us  how, 
having  heard  of  Bunyan's  fame,  and  having  read  some  of  his 
books,  during  the  persecution  of  1685-6,  he  went  for  the  first 
time  to  hear  him  at  Mr.  More's  meeting,  in  a  private  house, 
and  that  his  text  was,  "  The  fears  of  the  wicked  shall  come 
upon  him,  but  the  desires  of  the  righteous  shall  be  granted." 
This  sermon  afterwards  grew  to  more,  and  under  the  title  "  The 
Desires  of  the  Righteous  Granted,"  was  found  among  Bunyan's 
MSS.  and  added  to  this  volume  Doe  sent  forth.  After  telling 
us  who  is  the  righteous  man,  he  proceeds  to  speak  of  his 
desires.  Even  in  him  there  are  contradictory  desires  : 
How  may  I  know  to  which  my  soul  adheres  ?  Why  thus — 
which  wouldst  thou  have  to  prevail  ?  What  thinkest  thou  of 
the  grace  thou  seest  in  gracious  souls  who  are  near  thee  ?  Dost 
thou  not  cry  out,  0,  I  bless  them  in  my  heart !  0,  methinks 
grace  is  the  greatest  beauty  in  the  world  !  Yea,  I  could  be 
content  to  live  and  die  with  those  people  that  have  the  grace  of 
God  in  their  souls.  A  hundred  times  and  a  hundred,  when  I 
have  been  upon  my  knees  before  God,  I  have  desired,  were  it 
the  will  of  God,  that  I  might  be  in  their  condition.  Then 
again,  how  art  thou  when  thou  thinkest  that  thou  thyself  hast 
grace  ?  O  then,  says  the  soul,  I  am  as  if  I  could  leap  out  of 
myself;  joy,  joy,  joy,  then  is  with  my  heart.  It  is,  methinks, 
the  greatest  mercy  under  heaven  to  be  made  a  gracious  man. 
Is  it  thus  with  thy  soul  indeed  ?  Happy  man  !  Be  of  good 
courage,  thou  art  on  the  right  side. 

The  full  desire  of  the  righteous  can  only  be  accomplished  in 
eternity,  and  the  strength  of  this  desire  shows  itself  in  this 
that  it  is  willing  to  grapple  with  the  king  of  terrors  rather 
than  be  detained  from  that   sweet  communion   that  the  soul 


1692.]    HFXYAyS  POSTIIUJIOUS  PUBLICATIOXS.        435 

looks  for  when  it  comes  into  the  place  where  the  Lord  is.  I 
have  a  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ.  To  see  Jesus 
Christ,  to  see  him  as  he  is,  to  see  him  as  he  is  in  glory,  is  a 
sight  that  is  worth  going  from  relations,  and  out  of  the  body, 
and  through  the  jaws  of  death  to  see  ;  for  this  is  to  see 
him  head  over  all ;  to  sec  him  possessed  of  heaven  for  his 
church  ;  to  see  him  preparing  of  mansion-houses  for  those  his 
poor  ones  that  are  now  by  his  enemies  kicked  to  and  fro,  like 
foot-balls  in  the  world  ;  and  is  not  this  a  blessed  sight  ?  This 
desire  may  not  always  be  equally  strong  upon  us.  Many  times 
it  is  with  our  desires  as  it  is  with  saffron,  it  will  bloom  and 
blossom,  and  be  ripe,  and  all  in  a  night.  Tell  me,  dost  thou 
not  desire  to  desire  ?  Yea,  dost  thou  not  vehemently  desire 
to  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ  ?  I  know  if  thou  art 
a  righteous  man  thou  dost.  When  God  in  this  life  satisfies 
our  desires,  we  must  consider  that  great  grace  is  reserved  for 
great  service.  When  thy  desire  cometh  thou  wilt  have  occasion 
for  it ;  new  work,  new  trials,  new  sufferings,  or  something  that 
will  call  for  the  power  and  virtue  of  all  the  grace  thou  shalt 
have  to  keep  thy  spirit  even  and  thy  feet  from  slipping,  while 
thou  art  exercised  in  new  engagements.  Assure  thyself,  thy 
God  will  not  give  thee  straw,  but  he  will  expect  brick. 
Wherefore  as  thou  art  busy  in  desiring'  more  ffrace,  bo  also 
desirous  that  wisdom  to  manage  it  with  faithfulness  may  also 
be  granted  unto  thee.  Thou  wilt  say  grace,  if  I  had  it,  will 
do  all  this  for  me.  It  will  and  it  will  not.  It  will,  if  thou 
watch  and  be  sober ;  it  will  not,  if  thou  be  foolish  and  remiss. 
Men  of  great  grace  may  grow  consumptive  in  grace,  and  idle- 
ness may  turn  him  that  wears  a  plush  jacket  into  rags. 

(0).  "  The  Saint's  Privilege  and  Profit  "  is  a  treatise  on 
prayer,  based  upon  tlie  invitation  in  Hebrews  iv.  10,  to  come 
boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace.  Though  not  published  till 
1(JIJ2,  it  was  evidently  written  even  before  the  work  entitled 
"  The  Water  of  Life,"  which  iJunyan  published  in  Hi.SS,  for, 
on  [jago  'iH  of  the  llr.st  edition  oi'  the  latter,  he  says, — "  But 
because  I  have  spoken  of  this  moro  particularly  upon  that  te.xt 
['Let  us  therefore  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace,'  &c.]. 
I  shall  therefore  hero  say  no  more."  He  hero  shows  that  ihc 
place  of  mercy  is  a  throne,  u  glorious  high  throne,  with  u  High 

F  I  •  2 


4,36  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap,  xviii. 

Priest  standb.g  near,  and  to  it  there  is  to  be  an  orderly  coming 
by  tiie  new  and  living  way,  and  with,  a  true  heart  in  full 
assurance  of  faith.  Faith,  if  it  be  strong,  will  play  the  man 
in  the  dark,  will  like  a  mettled  horse,  flounce  in  a  bad  way, 
will  not  be  discouraged  at  trials,  at  many  or  strong  trials. 
But  even  faith  must  cling  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  as  well  as 
to  the  promise  of  God,  for,  alas  !  faith  is  sometimes  in  a  calm, 
sometimes  up,  and  sometimes  down,  and  sometimes  at  it  with 
sin,  death,  and  the  devil,  as  we  say,  blood  up  to  the  ears. 
Faith  now  has  but  little  time  to  speak  peace  to  the  conscience ; 
it  is  now  struggling  for  life,  it  is  now  fighting  with  angels, 
with  infernals ;  all  it  can  do  now  is  to  cry,  groan,  sweat,  fear, 
fight,  and  gasp  for  life. 

After   speaking  of  the  legal   and  natural  qualifications  of 
Christ  for  his  High-priestly  office,  arising  out  of  his  appoint- 
ment of  the  Father,  and  his  quick  and  vivid  sympathy  with 
the  believer,  he  proceeds  to  show  that  there  are  times  of  need 
when  we  need  to  come  boldly.     Such  a  time  is  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  life.      Then  the  devil  has  lost  a  sinner,  a 
captive  has  broke  prison,  and  hell  is  awaking  from  sleep.     To 
w^ant  the  spirit  of  prayer  now  is  as  much  as  thy  life  is  worth. 
You  that  are  broke  loose  from  hell,  that  do  hear  the  lion  roar 
after  you,  and  that  are  kept  awake  with  the  continual  voice  of 
his   chinking  chain,   cry    as  you  fly.     This  is  a  needy  time. 
Now  thy  hedge  is  low,  now  thy  branch  is  tender,  now  thou  art 
but  in  the  bud.      Pray  that  thou  beest  not   marred  in  the 
potter's  hand.     Times  of  spiritual  prosperity  ever  are  times  of 
need,  and  this  through  the  deceits  of  our  heart.     There  are 
snares  laid  for  us  in   our  best  things,  and  he  that  has  great 
enjoyments  and  forgets  to  pray  for  grace  to  keep  him  humble, 
then,  shall  quickly  be  where  Peter  was  after  his  knowledge  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  by  the  revelation  of  the  Father.      Such  a  time 
also  is  the  hour  of  worldly  adversity.     Then  Satan  will  say, 
"  It  is  not  a  time  now  to  retain  a  tender  conscience,  to  regard 
thy  word  or  promise,  to  pay  for  what  thou  buyest,  or  to  stick 
at  pilfering,  and  filch  from  thy  neighbour."     Times  of  perse- 
cution, of  changes  in  our  life,  of  decay,  of  guilt,  of  reproach 
and  slander,  and  desertion  also  are  times  of  need.     Finally, 
such  time  also  is  the  day  of  death,  when  I  am  to  pack  up  and 


1692.]    BUXYAX'S  POSTHUMOUS  PUBLICATIOXS.       -137 

be  fjone  from  hence,  iLc  way  of  all  the  earth.  Now  the  greatest 
trial  is  come,  excepting  that  of  the  day  of  judgment.  Xow  a 
man  is  to  be  stripped  of  all,  but  that  which  cannot  be  shaken. 
Now  a  man  grows  near  the  borders  of  eternity.  Now  he  begins 
to  see  into  the  skirts  of  the  next  world.  Now  death  is  death, 
and  the  grave  the  grave  indeed  !  Now  he  begins  to  see  what 
it  is  for  body  and  soul  to  part,  and  what  to  go  and  appear 
before  God.  Now  the  dark  entry,  and  the  thoughts  of  what  is 
in  the  way  from  a  deathbed  to  the  gate  of  the  holy  heaven, 
comes  nearer  to  the  heart  than  when  health  and  prosperity  do 
compass  a  man  about.  Wherefore  this  is  like  to  be  a  tr^ang 
time,  a  time  of  need  indeed,  while  strong  death  is  loosing  his 
silver  cord,  and  breaking  his  golden  bowl ! 

(7).  The  next  of  Bunyan's  posthumous  works,  "  Christ  a 
Com  pleat  Saviour,"*  deals  with  a  subject  of  which  he  never 
wearied,  the  power  which  Christ's  intercession  gives  him  to 
save  to  the  uttermost.  It  is,  says  he — taking  a  leaf  out  of  his 
own  experience — struggling  work  to  come  to  Christ.  Evils 
within  will  rise  and  take  this  man  and  toss  and  tumble  him  like 
a  ball  in  a  large  place,  so  that  he  is  not  master  of  himself, 
of  his  thoughts,  nor  of  his  passions.  Strange,  hideous,  and 
amazing  blasphemies  will  fix  themselves  upon  him.  These 
blasphemies  are  like  those  frogs  that  I  have  heard  of  that  will 
leap  up,  and  catch  hold  of,  and  hang  by  their  claws.  Now 
help,  Lord  ;  now,  Lord  Jesus,  what  shall  I  do  ?  Now,  Son  of 
David,  have  mercy  upon  me!  Guilt,  too,  rises  up  and  breaks 
the  heart  with  its  burden.  And  Satan  has  the  art  of  making 
the  uttermost  of  every  sin  ;  he  can  blow  it  iip,  make  it  swell, 
make  every  hair  of  its  head  as  big  as  a  cedar.  It  is  hard  coming 
to  God  when  a  man's  own  conscience  sides  with  the  enemy. 
Ik'tter  can  a  man  bear  and  deal  with  any  objection  against  him- 
hclf  than  with  those  that  himself  doth  make  against  himself. 
They  lie  close,  stick  fast,  speak  aloud,  and  will  bo  heard  ;  yea, 
will  haunt  and  liunt  him,  as  the  devil  doth  some  in  every  hole 
and  corner.  JJut  come,  man,  come,  for  he  is  able  to  save  to  tho 
uttermost. 

Wo  need  etjch  an  intercessor  a.s  Christ,  for  there  is  in  \is  mis- 
trust und  doubting,  aptness  to  errors,  and  inclination  to  faint 
*  CrUt  yn  lachatcdwr  Cyjlawn.     CuLTfyrddin.     [1820?]     8vo. 


438  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap,  xviii. 

under  the  Cross.  We  seek  too  much  to  save  ourselves,  to  dis- 
semble the  known  truth  for  the  obtaining  a  little  favour  with 
men,  and  to  speak  things  that  we  ought  not  that  we  may  sleep 
in  a  whole  skin.  And  then  how  imperfect  our  prayers  are  ! 
Where  is  the  man  that  pursues  with  all  his  might  what  but; 
now  he  seemed  to  ask  for  with  all  his  heart  ?  Prayer  is  become 
a  shell,  a  piece  of  formality,  a  very  empty  thing,  as  to  the  spirit 
and  life  of  prayer  at  this  day.  I  have  heard  of  many  that 
have  i:)lmjcd,  but  of  few  that  have  prayed,  wrestling  with  God 
for  mercy  in  that  duty.  Then  as  to  the  hearing  of  the  Word. 
Alas  !  the  place  of  hearing  is  the  place  of  sleeping  with  many 
a  fine  professor.  I  have  often  observed  that  those  that  keep 
shops  can  briskly  attend  upon  a  twopenny  customer ;  but  when 
they  come  themselves  to  God's  market,  they  spend  their  time 
too  much  in  letting  their  thoughts  to  wander  from  God's  com- 
mandments, or  in  a  nasty  drowsy  way.  The  head,  also,  and 
hearts  of  most  hearers  are  to  the  Word  as  the  sieve  is  to  water  : 
they  can  hold  no  sermons,  remember  no  texts,  bring  home  no 
proofs,  produce  none  of  the  sermon  to  the  edification  and  jarofit 
of  others. 

(8).  "  The  Saints'  Knowledge  of  Christ's  Love,"  is  an  expo- 
sition of  Paul's  prayer  for  the  Ephesians  (iii.  18,  19)  that  they 
might  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints  what  is  the  breadth 
and  length  and  depth  and  height,  and  to  know  the  love  or 
Christ  which  passeth  knowledge.  This  is  a  text,  he  says,  made 
up  of  words  piclied  and  packed  together  by  the  wisdom  of  God, 
piched  and  packed  together  on  purpose  for  the  succour  and  relief 
of  the  tempted.  Christ's  love  suits  and  answers  a  Christian's 
condition  while  in  this  world,  let  it  be  what  it  will.  If  his 
afflictions  be  broad,  here  is  a  breadth  ;  if  they  be  long,  here  is 
a  length  ;  and  if  they  be  deep,  here  is  a  depth  ;  and  if  they  be 
high,  here  is  a  height.  And  this  I  will  say,  that  while  in  a 
state  of  trial  and  temptation  nothing  is  more  helpful  or  com- 
forting than  to  know  that  there  is  a  breadth  to  answer  a  breadth, 
a  length  to  answer  a  length,  a  depth  to  answer  a  depth,  and  a 
height  to  answer  a  height.  The  main  part  of  this  book  is  con- 
cerned with  what  knowing  of  the  love  that  passeth  knowledge 
is  possible  in  this  world.  It  may  be  known  as  to  its  nature  in 
many  of  its  degrees,  and,  above  all,  we  may  know  that  it  passes 


1692.]    DCXTAX'S  POSTIfUJWUS  PUBLICATIOXS.       4:^9 

knowledge.  Thus  to  know  that  love  is  to  be  filled  with  all  the 
fulness  of  God,  and  what  a  man  is  he  who  is  filled  thus !  Such 
men  are  at  this  day  wanting  in  the  Cluirches.  These  are  the 
men  that  sweeten  Churches,  and  that  bring  glory  to  God  and  to 
religion. 

(9).  Bunyan's  work,  entitled  "  The  House  of  the  Forest  of 
Lebanon,"*  is  a  somewhat  fanciful,  and  not  very  appropriate 
analogy  based  upon  1  Kings,  vii.  2,  which  narrates  that  iSolo- 
mon,  after  building  the  Temple  and  his  own  house,  built  also 
the  house  of  the  forest  of  Lebanon.  He  says  that  as  the  temple 
was  a  figure  of  the  Church  under  the  Gospel  as  she  relatcth  to 
worship,  so  the  house  of  the  forest  of  Lebanon  was  a  figure  of 
the  Church  as  she  is  assaulted  for  worship,  as  she  is  persecuted 
for  the  same.  In  other  words,  it  is  a  type  of  the  Church  in 
the  wilderness,  or  as  she  is  in  her  sackcloth  state.  The  com- 
parison is  not  a  very  happy  one,  for  if  this  house  were  actually 
built  in  the  forest  of  Lebanon,  the  probability  is  that  it  would 
be  a  summer  palace  for  the  king's  enjoyment.  But  the  greater 
likelihood  is  that  it  was  simply  one  of  the  range  of  palaces 
built  at  Jerusalem,  and  so  called,  either  because  it  was  built  of 
Lebanon  cedar  or  because  it  displayed  a  perfect  thicket  or /o/ys^ 
of  cedar  pillars.  But  though  we  cannot  go  with  Bunyan  in 
the  main  course  of  his  analogy,  we  can  accept  an  occasional 
illustration  like  this  :  "  Let  a  man  and  a  beast  look  out  at  the 
same  window,  the  same  door,  the  same  casement,  yet  the  one 
will  see  like  a  man,  and  the  other  but  like  a  beast."  "VVe  can 
also  feel  the  force  of  his  forceful  words  when,  after  reminding 
us  that  through  many  tribulations  is  the  very  roadway  to 
heaven,  he  says : — 

"Let  tills,  then,  cncourago  the  saints  to  hope  and  to  rojoico  in 
hope  of  the  glory  of  God,  notwithstanding  present  tribulations. 
This  is  our  Beed-tinie,  our  winter ;  afllictions  are  to  try  us  of  what 
metal  wo  are  made  ;  yea,  and  to  sliako  uVi  woriu-oatcn  fruit,  and 
such  as  aro  rotten  at  core.  Troubh.'s  for.Chriht'.s  sake  are  but  like 
tlio  i)rick  of  an  awl  in  the  tip  of  the  ear,  in  order  to  hang  a  jewel 
there.  Lot  tliis  also  put  tlio  saints  upon  patience :  when  wi'  know 
that  a  trial  will  liavo  an  end,  wo  aro  by  tliat  knowledge  encouraged 
to  exercise  i)ationco.     1  Lave  a  bad  master,  but  I  liavo  a  your  to 

•   Traelliaicd  am  y  T<j  yn  Ufjhocduifj  Libauua.     Slerlhyr.      183.j.      IGmo. 


440  JOHN  BUNYAK  [chap,  xviii. 

serve  under  him,  and  that  makes  me  serve  him  with  patience ;  I 
have  but  a  mile  to  go  on  this  dirty  way,  and  then  I  shall  have  my 
path  pleasant  and  green,  and  this  makes  me  tread  the  dirty  way 
Avith  patience.  I  am  now  in  my  rags,  but  by  that  a  quarter  of  a 
year  is  come  and  gone,  two  hundred  a  year  comes  into  my  hand, 
wherefore  I  will  wait,  and  exercise  patience.  Thus  might  I  multiply 
comparisons.  Be  patient,  then,  my  brethren ;  but  how  long  ?  to 
the  coming  of  the  Lord.  But  when  will  that  be  ?  the  coming  of 
the  Lord  draws  nigh." 

(10).  The  last  of  the  works  printed  for  the  first  time  in  the 
folio  of  1692  was  entitled,  "  Of  Antichrist  and  his  Ruine,  and 
of  the  Slaying  of  the  Witnesses."  Bunyan  begins  by  showing 
that  Antichrist  is  the  adversary  of  Christ ;  an  adversary  really, 
a  friend  pretendedly.  Against  him  in  deed,  for  him  in  word, 
and  contrary  to  him  in  practice.  Antichrist  first  made  his 
appearance  in  the  Church  of  God.  Not  that  the  Church  of 
God  did  willingly  admit  him  there  to  sit  as  such;  he  had  covered 
his  cloven  foot ;  he  had^j^/«2&s  in  his  dragon's  mouth,  and  so 
came  in  by  flatteries.  He  evidently  means  by  Antichrist  the 
spirit  of  the  priestly  system,  and  gives  a  description  of  its 
crippled  condition  in  his  time,  which  would  have  to  be  modified 
considerably  before  it  would  suit  ours.  "  For  as  concerning 
his  masses,  prayers  for  the  dead,  images,  pilgrimages,  monkish 
vows,  sinful  fasts,  and  the  beastly  single  life  of  their  priests, 
though  when  the  spirit  of  Antichrist  was  in  them  they  did 
bear  some  sway  in  the  world ;  yet  now  of  what  esteem  are  they  ? 
or  who  has  reverence  for  them  ?  They  are  now  blown  together 
under  hedges,  as  the  dry  leaves  for  the  mice  and  frogs  to  har- 
bour in."  There  shall  be  brave  days  when  Antichrist  is  utterly 
dead.  The  people  born  in  that  happy  time  shall  see  Anti- 
christ only  in  its  ruins ;  they  shall,  like  the  sparrows,  the 
little  robins,  and  the  wren,  sit  and  sing  and  chirrup  one  to 
another,  while  their  eyes  behold  this  dead  hawk.  Then  shall 
the  differences,  the  divisions,  and  debates  among  the  godly 
cease  ;  for  men  shall  see  eye  to  eye  when  the  Lord  shall  bring 
again  Zion,  yea  the  watchmen  of  God's  people  shall  do  so  ;  for 
it  is  for  want  of  light  in  them  that  the  lambs  have  so  butted  one 
iinother.  He  is  jubilant  over  the  nearing  end.  Now,  since 
Antichrist  is  dying,  let  us  ring  her  passing-bell ;   for  when  she 


1692. 1   Bl'XYAX'S  POSTIICJIOUS  FrnLICATIOXS.        441 

is  dead  we  that  live  to  see  it  intend  to  ring  out.  No  peal  ever 
rung  out  of  Elstow  steeple  by  him  ever  went  forth  with  more 
heart  and  soul  than  would  this  ;  but  the  passing-bell  of  Anti- 
christ was  not  destined  to  be  rung  in  his  time.  Babylon  says 
he  shall  be  an  habitation  of  devils  and  a  cage  for  every  unclean 
and  hateful  bird — a  cage,  not  to  imprison  them  in,  but  for 
them  to  sit  and  sing  in,  to  confer  their  notes  in,  to  make 
melodious  music  in  ;  I  mean  melodious  to  their  own  thinking  ; 
for  the  ass  thinks  that  he  sings  full  favouredly,  and  the  owl 
endeavours  to  lift  up  her  voice  above  all  the  birds  of  the 
wood. 

Among  the  instruments  that  God  will  use  to  compass  the 
ruin  of  Antichrist,  Bunyan  trusts  mainly  to  kings.  "With 
James  II.  on  the  throne,  at  that  very  time  striving  might  and 
main  to  re-establish  that  Popery  which  to  Bunyan's  mind  was 
Antichrist,  one  is  surprised  that  he  should.  Yet  so  he  does, 
and  makes  this  declaration  against  Romanism  a  manifesto  of 
his  own  loyalty  to  his  Prince  : — 

"I  speak  the  more  of  this,  because  (as  I  have  said)  I  believe 
that  by  magistrates  and  powers  we  shall  be  delivered  and  kept  from 
Antichrist.  Let  the  King  have  verily  a  place  in  j^our  hearts,  and 
with  heart  and  mouth  give  thanks  fur  him ;  ho  is  a  better  saviour 
of  us  than  we  may  bo  aware  of.  Pray  for  Kings  to  the  God  of 
heaven,  who  has  the  heart  of  Kings  in  his  hands.  Pray  for  the 
long  life  of  the  King.  Pray  that  God  would  always  give  wisdom 
and  j  udgment  to  the  King.  Pray  that  God  would  discover  all  plots 
and  conspiracies  against  his  person  and  government.  Pray  also 
that  God  would  make  him  ablo  to  drive  away  all  evil  and  all  evil 
men  from  his  presence ;  and  that  he  may  be  a  greater  counteuancer 
than  ever  of  them  that  are  holy  and  good.  I  do  confess  myself  one 
of  the  ohl-fashion  professors  that  covet  to  fear  God  and  lionour  the 
King.  I  also  am  for  blessing  of  thorn  that  ourso  mo,  for  doinp: 
;,'00(l  to  theu)  that  hate  mo,  and  for  jtraying  for  thorn  tliat  dospiiu- 
lully  U.SO  ino  and  porsecuto  mo.  And  havo  liad  more  peace  in  tlio 
practice  of  these  things  than  all  tlio  world  are  aware  of.  I  only 
drop  this  because  I  would  show  my  brethren  that  1  also  am  one  of 
them ,  and  to  set  thorn  right  that  havo  wrong  thoughts  of  mo,  as  to 
6o  weighty  matters  as  tlioHo." 

Such  were  the  ten  books  by  Bunyan  first  given  lo  tlio  world 
in  the  folio  of  1G92,  within  four  years  of  liis  death.     Then"  were 


442  JOHN  BV NY  AN.  [chap,  xviii. 

still  four  other  works  of  his  unprinted  :  "A  Pocket  Concordance 
to  the  Scriptures,"  "A  Christian  Dialogue,"  "The  Heavenly 
Footman,"  and  the  "  Relation  of  his  Imprisonment."  The 
first  two  of  these  have  never  been  printed,  but  "  The  Heavenly 
Footman"  was  published  by  Charles  Doe  in  1698,  and  the 
"Account  of  his  Imprisonment"  was  given  to  the  world  in 
1765.  It  is  matter  for  congratulation  that  this  last,  one  of  the 
most  characteristic  of  his  writings,  and  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting in  a  biographical  sense,  was  not  altogether  lost  during 
the  hundred  years  between  its  composition  in  Bedford  gaol 
and  its  publication.  It  is  probable  that  we  are  indebted  to 
Samuel  Palmer,  the  Editor  of  the  "  Nonconformist  Memorial," 
for  its  preservation.  His  family  at  that  time  lived  in  Bed- 
ford, his  native  town,  where  he  was  a  frequent  visitor  during 
his  ministry  at  Hackney,  and  this  relation  of  Bunyan's  im- 
prisonment was  published  by  James  Buckland,  at  the  Buck 
in  Paternoster  Pow,  who  was  also  Palmer's  publisher.  The 
MS.  of  this  little  book  had  probably  remained  in  the  possession 
of  Hannah  Bunyan,  and  was  only  printed  four  years  before  her 
death.  That  it  was  printed  at  all  and  not  lost,  considering  the 
long  period  it  remained  in  MS.,  will  be  felt  to  be  a  fortunate 
circumstance  by  all  who  remember  that  it  contains  the  account 
of  Bunyan's  arrest  at  Harlington,  of  his  trial  before  Kelynge, 
and  of  the  memorable  interview  between  his  wife  and  Sir 
Matthew  Hale. 

"  The  Heavenly  Footman "  had  been  in  the  possession  oi 
Charles  Doe,  in  MS.,  for  six  years  before  he  gave  it  to  the 
public  in  1698.  He  was  still  hoping  to  send  out  a  second  folio 
volume  containing  Bunyan's  already  published  writings,  to 
which  this  might  have  been  added.  But  publishers'  rights 
still  barred  the  way,  and  at  length  he  sent  forth  this  little  Avorlc 
separately.  Three  copies  of  the  first  edition  are  in  existence, 
one  of  which  is  in  the  possession  of  the  trustees  of  Bunyan 
Meeting.  The  title  is  as  follows  :  "  The  Heavenly  Footman  ; 
or,  a  Description  of  the  Man  that  gets  to  Heaven,  together  with 
the  ways  he  runs  in,  the  marks  he  goes  by.  Also,  some  Direc- 
tions how  to  Pun  so  as  to  Obtain.  Briefly  Observed  and  Pub- 
lished by  John  Bunyan.  London :  printed  for  Charles  Doe, 
Comb-maker,  in  the  Borough,  Southwark,  near  London  Bridge. 


1692.]    DUXYAX'S  POSTJirJfOUS  PUBLICATIOXS.       443 

1698."*  To  the  book  itself  Doe  added  a  Catalogue  of  all 
Bunyan's  writings,  which  appears  to  have  been  carefully  drawn 
up  and  was  introduced  as  follows  : — 

"  liunning  Reader!  I  that  now  help  you  to  tliis  Heavenly  Foot- 
man in  Print  (being  the  Person  that  tirst  moved  and  procured  the 
Printing  in  Folio  above  Twenty  of  our  Author  Bunyan's  Pieces), 
have  also  now  given  you  here  a  Catalogue  of  all  that  gi-eat  Con- 
vert's AVorks  in  order  of  Time,  as  thej'  succeeded  eaeli  otlier  in 
Pubhcation  (as  near  as  I  can  understand),  and  I  do  also  love  them, 
and  woidd  have  you  do  so  too,  as  they  are  the  Experience  and 
Knowledge  of  a  great  Convert,  which  indeed  is  a  great  Monument 
of  the  mighty  power  of  Grace,  and  a  fit  Fellow-Traveller  for  a 
Heavenly  Foot-man. 

"  Charles  Doe. 
"  BououGH,  LoxDox,  ilarch  26,  1698." 

At  the  end  of  the  Catalogue  he  says — 

"  Tlie  four  Books  following  were  never  yet  Printed,  except  this 
now  of  the  Heavenly  Footman,  which  I  bought  in  1G91,  now  six 
years  since,  of  Mr.  John  Bunyan,  the  eldest  son  of  our  Author ; 
and  I  have  now  put  it  into  the  World  in  Print,  Word  for  word  as  it 
came  from  him  to  me:" 

The  book  thus  published  by  Doe  is  based  upon  the  text,  "  So 
run  that  ye  may  obtain  "  (1  Cor.  ix.  2-i),  and  is  pref\iced  with 
"  An  Epistle  to  all  the  Slothful  and  Careless  People,"  calling  to 
the  spiritual  sluggard  as  with  trumpet  tone  to  awake  and  arise. 

"  Time  runs,  much  of  your  lives  are  past,  and  your  souls  arc 
worth  a  thousand  worlds — do  not  loiter,  fur  the  angels  do  not  and 
Christ  did  not.  Wliat  i.s  before  you  i.s  worlli  (striving  for.  As  tlie 
men  of  Dan  said  to  their  brethren  after  tliey  had  seen  the  goodness 
of  the  land  of  Canaan,  'Arise,  for  Ave  have  seen  the  land,  and 
beliold  it  is  very  good.  Be  not  slotliful  to  go  and  to  enter  and  pos- 
8e.s8  the  land.'  Farewell.  I  wish  our  souls  may  meet  with  comfort 
at  the  journey's  end.  John  Bunyan." 

lie  would  have  the  heavenly  runners  get  into  the  right  way 
first  and  so  not  lose  their  labour. 

"  Hero  is  one  runs  a-quaking,  anotlier  a-ranting;  one  again  runs 

•  Caigliad   bijrr    oV   Jthcdrgtcr    Yupnjdol.     Cimgliiid.     1770.     An    Gille-riulh 
mamhaidh.     Gatl.    Kditiburgh,  18t)8. 


444  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvm. 

after  the  Baptism,  and  another  after  the  Independency.  Here  is 
one  for  free-will  and  another  for  Presbytery ;  and  yet  possibly 
most  of  all  these  sects  run  quite  the  wrong  way,  and  yet  every  one 
is  for  his  life,  his  soul,  either  for  heaven  or  hell." 

Get,  therefore,  into  the  right  way,  use  a  wise  thoughtfulness 
when  you  are  therein,  strip  yourself  of  hindrances,  beware  of 
bye-paths,  do  not  listen  to  every  man  who  wishes  to  talk  with 
you  by  the  way,  do  not  be  daunted  with  difficulties  ;  above  all,  do 
not  be  offended  with  the  Cross,  for  it  is  the  standing  way-mark 
by  which  all  that  would  go  to  glory  must  pass. 

"You  know  if  one  ask  you  the  way  to  such  and  such  a  place,  you 
for  the  better  direction,  do  not  only  say,  this  is  the  way,  but  then 
also  say,  you  must  go  by  such  a  gate,  by  such  a  style,  such  a  bush, 
tree,  bridge,  or  such  like.  Why,  so  it  is  here ;  art  thou  enquiring 
the  way  to  heaven  ?  Why,  I  tell  thee,  Christ  is  the  way  ;  into  him 
thou  must  get,  into  his  righteousness,  to  be  justified  ;  and  if  thou 
art  in  him,  thou  wilt  presently  see  the  cross,  thou  must  go  close  by 
it,  thou  must  touch  it,  nay,  thou  must  take  it  up,  or  else  thou  wilt 
quickly  go  out  of  the  way  that  leads  to  heaven,  and  turn  up  some 
of  those  crooked  lanes  that  lead  down  to  the  chambers  of  death." 

It  is  this  Cross  that  is  the  difficulty  with  so  many.  "  I  am 
persuaded  were  it  not  for  the  Cross,  where  we  have  one  pro- 
fessor we  should  have  twenty  ;  but  this  Cross,  that  is  it  which 
spoileth  all."  The  way  to  take  the  bitterness  out  of  the  Cross 
is  to  keep  your  eye  upon  the  Crown.  Think  much  of  those 
who  have  gone  before,  how  really  they  are  in  the  kingdom,  how 
safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus,  how  unwilling  they  would  be  to  be 
here  for  a  thousand  worlds,  and  what  they  would  think  of  the 
man  who  lets  his  heart  fail  him  in  the  journey  or  sin  allure 
him.  "  O  !  "  they  would  say,  "  did  he  but  see  what  we  see, 
feel  what  we  feel,  and  taste  of  the  dainties  that  we  taste  of! " 

'■'■  Sometimes  when  my  base  heart  hath  been  inclining  to  tliis 
world,  and  to  loiter  in  my  journey  ton^ards  heaven,  the  very  con- 
sideration of  the  glorious  saints  and  angels  in  heaven,  what  they 
enjoy,  and  what  low  thoughts  they  have  of  the  things  of  this 
world  together,  how  they  would  befool  me  if  they  did  but  know 
that  my  heart  was  drawing  back  ;  hath  caused  me  to  rush  forward, 
to   disdain  these  poor,  low,  empty,   beggarly  things,  and  to  say  to 


1692.]    J^UyVAy'S  POSTHUMOUS  PUBLICATIONS.         115 

my  soul,  Come,  soul,  let  us  not  be  weary,  let  us  see  Avhat  this  heaven 
is;  let  us  even  venture  all  for  it,  and  try  if  that  will  quit  the  cost." 

Think,  too,  how  many  seeming  simple  ones  are  wise  in  this. 

"  AVill  it  not  be  a  dishonour  to  thee  to  see  the  very  boys  and  girls 
in  the  country  to  have  more  wit  than  thyself?  It  may  be  the  ser- 
vants of  some  men,  as  the  horse  keeper,  ploughman,  scullion,  &c., 
are  more  looking  after  heaven  than  their  masters.  I  am  apt  to 
think  sometimes,  that  more  servants  than  masters,  that  more  tenants 
than  landlords,  will  inherit  the  Kingdom  of  heaven.  But  is  not 
this  a  shame  for  them  that  are  such  ?  I  am  persuaded  you  scorn 
that  your  servants  should  say  that  they  are  wiser  than  you  in  the 
things  of  this  world  ;  and  yet  I  am  bold  to  say,  that  many  of  them 
are  wiser  than  you  in  the  thiugs  of  the  world  to  come,  which  are 
of  greater  concernment." 

In  the  first  collected  edition,  that  of  the  folio  of  1692,  there 
were  published  twenty  of  Bunyan's  works,  ten  of  the  twenty 
being  then  printed  for  the  first  time.  The  intervention  o£  pub- 
lisher's rights,  as  we  have  said,  prevented  this  edition  going  on 
to  a  second  volume,  and  it  was  not  till  173G  that  Doe's  original 
idea  was  able  to  be  carried  out.  In  that  year  there  appeared 
an  edition  in  two  volumes  folio,  edited  by  Samuel  Wilson,  of  the 
Barbican,  the  grandson  of  that  John  Wilson  who  was  Bunyan's 
friend.  This  new  edition  was  published  by  subscription,  and 
contained,  in  addition  to  the  twenty  works  of  the  first  folio, 
twenty-seven  others  which  had  been  previously  published  in 
separate  form.  In  17G7  there  appeared  a  third  edition  of  tho 
Collected  Works  in  two  volumes  folio,  with  a  preface  by  George 
Whitefield — this  edition  containing  three  works  of  Bunyan 
not  included  in  previous  collections,  though  previously  pub- 
lished. Other  collected  editions  have  been  issued — one  in  six 
volumes  octavo,  published  in  1780  by  Alexander  Hogg  ;  one  in 
l.S->'J,  which  was  revised  in  18G2,  under  tho  editor.ship  of  Mr. 
G.  Olfor,  in  three  volumes  imperial  octavo ;  and  one  in  four 
volumes  imperial  octavo,  edited  in  ISO'J  by  tho  Rev.  Henry 
Stebbing,  IMl.S.  Mr.  Ofl'or  gave  himself  as  enthusiastically  to 
the  work  of  editing  this  his  favourito  author  as  did  Charles 
1)00  before  him,  and  as  possessing  greater  advantages  with 
more  complete  success.  Ilis  notes,  like  some  others,  uro  occa- 
sionally a  little  superfluous,  sometimes  indeed  raising  u  smilo 


446  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap,  xviir. 

by  their  very  simplicity  ;  his  "Life  of  Bunyan,"  too,  is  con- 
fusing by  its  involved  repetitions,  and  is  frequently  inaccurate  ; 
but  he  must  always  receive  grateful  mention  among  the  lovers 
of  Bunyan  for  the  immense  pains  he  bestowed  upon  his  work, 
and  for  his  careful  bibliographical  account  of  the  varied  editions 
of  his  author's  varied  works. 

The  writings  of  Bunyan  which  we  have  sought  all  the  way 
through  to  connect  chronologically  with  his  life  are  all  that  can 
with  certainty  be  declared  to  be  genuine.  Other  works,  however, 
have  appeared  under  his  name  to  which  passing  reference  may 
be  made.  Immediately  after  his  death — for  it  was  endorsed  as 
"  Licensed  September  10th,  1688  " — there  appeared  a  pamphlet 
of  six  or  eight  small  octavo  pages,  entitled  "  Mr.  John  Bunyan's 
Dying  Sayings,"  the  history  of  which  is  a  little  uncertain.  These 
sayings  consist  of  a  series  of  pious  utterances  arranged  under 
ten  heads — such  as  Sin,  Affliction,  Prayer,  the  Love  of  the 
World,  and  the  like.  They  are  most  of  them  such  things  as 
Bunyan  might  have  spoken  in  his  sermons,  but  it  is  difficult  to 
think  of  him  as  saying  some  of  them  on  his  deathbed.  It  is 
difficult,  for  example,  to  imagine  him  haranguing  the  friends 
or  the  family  of  John  Strudwick  in  any  such  way  as  this — "  0 
sinner,  what  a  condition  wilt  thou  fall  into  when  thou  departest 
this  world,"  &c.,  &c.  Some  of  the  sayings  here  collected  have 
a  certain  force  and  pungency,  as,  for  example,  "When  thou 
prayest,  rather  let  thy  heart  be  without  words  than  thy  words 
without  a  heart ;"  "  Prayer  will  make  a  man  cease  from  sin, 
or  sin  will  entice  a  man  to  cease  from  prayer."  On  the  whole, 
however,  the  probability  is  that  this  collection  of  so-called  dying 
sayings  was  really  a  compilation  made  from  various  sources, 
and  made  in  haste  for  some  publisher  with  a  shrewd  eye  to 
business,  and  bent  on  taking  advantage  of  the  feeling  stirred 
by  the  tidings  of  Bunyan's  death. 

In  1688,  immediately  after  his  death,  and  with  a  black  border 
round  the  title,  there  appeared  a  second  edition  of"  The  Barren 
Fig-tree,"  the  title  saying,  "  To  which  is  added  his  Exhortation 
to  Peace  and  Unity."  This  exhortation  follows  on  upon  "  The 
Barren  Fig-tree"  with  continuous  registration,  and  with  a  half- 
title  without  any  author's  name,  the  two  works  being  reprinted 
together  in  the  same  form  in  1692.     There  is  a  pretty  strong 


1692.]   UUXYAX'S  POSTHUMOUS  PUBLICATIOXS.       447 

consensus  of  opinion  against  accepting  this  "  Exhortation  to 
Peace  and  Unity  "  as  genuine.  Charles  Doe  makes  no  mention 
of  it  in  either  of  his  catalogues  ;  and  though  it  was  included  in 
the  collected  edition  of  1730,  subsequent  editions  include  it 
only  under  protest.  The  reasons  for  doubting  its  genuineness 
are — (1)  The  references  and  illustrations  are  of  a  ditierent  cha- 
racter to  those  usually  found  in  Bunyan's  works.  For  example, 
the  writer  refers  to  Agesilaus  and  Lacedemon,  to  I'lutarch  and 
his  story  of  Silurus,  to  Camden's  "Britannia,"  with  its  account 
of  Austin's  Oak,  to  the  "learned"  Stillingfleet,  and  his  Ireni- 
con,  to  the  Gnostics,  and  to  Avhat  he  terms  the  tcrrc^  incognita 
of  (Scripture.  (2)  The  general  style  of  composition  «^  well 
as  the  special  references  is  unlike  that  of  liunyan.  (3)  The 
writer  also  goes  directly  counter  to  the  position  Bunyan  so  dis- 
tinctly took  up  for  himself  on  the  terms  of  Church  Communion, 
insisting  that  baptism  is  indispensable  to  salvation  and  to 
Christian  fellowship. 

The  same  year  in  which  this  work  appeared,  there  appeared 
also  "  The  Saints'  Triumph  ;  or,  the  Glory  of  the  Saints  with 
Jesus  Christ.  Describing  the  Joys  and  Comforts  a  Believer 
reaps  in  Heaven,  after  his  painful  Pilgrimage  and  Sufi'erings  on 
Earth.  By  J.  B.''  Beyond  these  initials,  Bunyan's  name  was 
not  given,  but  his  portrait  was  on  the  title.  This  ingenious 
way  of  suggesting  without  actually  affirming  authorship  was  a 
piece  of  trade  smartness  on  the  part  of  that  publisher  of  some- 
what shady  reputation,  Joseph  Blai'e,  of  tho  Looking  Glass, 
on  London  Bridge,  the  publislier,  it  will  be  remembered,  who 
sent  forth  the  "  Scriptural  Poems  "  as  Bunyan's,  and  who  issued 
also  a  Latinised  edition  of  the  "I'ilgrim's  I'rogress,"  from 
which  liis  name  was  withdrawn. 

Two  other  works  by  other  authors  have  been  assigned  to 
Bunyan,  the  writers  themselves  being  perfectly  innocent  of  any 
attempt  to  deceive.  George  Larkin,  like  some  other  eminent 
publishers,  turning  author  as  well  as  publisher,  wrote  u  book 
entitled  "  Tlio  World  to  Come  ;  the  Glories  of  Heaven  and  tho 
Terrors  of  Hell  lively  displayed  under  the  similitude  of  a 
Vision  ;  by  G.  L.  London,  1711."  Fourteen  voars  later  Edward 
Midwinter,  who  had  succeeded  Blare  in  tii',' publisliiiig  business 
ut  the  Jjooking  Glas.s,  and  also  apparently  in  bis  doubtful  way 


448  JOSN  BUNTAK  [chap,  xviii. 

of  carrying  on  the  business,  published  an  exact  reprint  of  this 
book  of  Larkin's  under  the  altered  title  :  "  The  Visions  of  John 
Bunyan  ;  being  his  last  remains  ;  recommended  by  him.  as 
necessary  to  be  had  in  all  families."  John  Dunton,  the  well- 
known  bookseller,  was  in  no  manner  of  doubt  that  his  friend 
George  Larkin,  the  son  of  the  first  publisher  of  that  name,  and 
whom  he  says  he  had  known  for  twenty  years,  was  the  real 
author  of  the  book. 

The  story  of  the  other  work  ascribed  to  Bunyan,  but  not 
really  by  him,  is  as  follows.  In  1690,  James  Bardwood,  the 
ejected  minister  of  Dartmouth,  published  a  little  book  entitled, 
"  Heart's  Ease  in  Heart's  Trouble  ;  by  J.  B.,  a  servant  of 
Christ."  The  title  was  taking  and  somewhat  after  Bunyan's 
manner,  and  in  1762,  some  enterprising  publisher,  putting  a 
new  construction  on  the  initials,  sent  forth  the  book  with  the 
same  preface,  signed  "  Thy  humble  servant,  John  Bunyan," 
instead  of  "J.  B.,"  as  Bardwood  left  it.  The  original  date, 
March,  1690,  however,  remained  unchanged,  and  Bunyan  was 
thus  made  to  sign  a  preface  a  year  and  a  half  after  he  had  been 
laid  in  his  grave. 

Later  still  in  the  last  century  two  other  publishers,  this  time 
in  Scotland,  ventured  to  trade  upon  Bunyan's  reputation  among 
the  common  people.  In  1731  there  was  published  in  Edin- 
burgh, and  a  generation  later,  in  Glasgow,  a  work  bearing  the 
title,  "  Rest  for  a  Wearied  Soul,"  being  the  last  legacy  of  Mr. 
John  Bunyan  of  Bedfordshire,"  The  book,  as  we  might  expect, 
is  a  feeble  production,  made  up  of  pious  platitudes.  In  1737 
also  there  was  published  in  Edinburgh  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"  The  Riches  of  Christ ;  or,  the  glorious  treasure  of  Heavenly 
Joys.     With  a  devout  Prayer.     By  J.  Bunyan." 

Other  pamphlets  rather  of  the  nature  of  squibs  than  serious 
performances  were  also  issued  under  Bunvan's  name,  without, 
of  course,  any  expectation  of  deceiving  any  reader  thereby. 
About  these  nothing  need  be  said,  as,  indeed,  nothing  can  be 
said,  beyond  the  fact  that  a  century  later  they  furnished  addi- 
tional illustration  of  the  practice  against  which,  in  1688, 
Nathaniel  Ponder  protested,  that  "Of  certain  ballad  sellers  about 
Newgate  and  on  London  Bridge,  who  have  put  the  two  first 
letters  of  this  Author's  name  and  his  effigies  to  their  rhimes 


BU^'YAX'S  POSTUUJifOUS  PUBLICATIOXS.        449 

and  ridiculous  books  suggesting  to  the  world  as  if  tlicv  were 
his." 

But  leaving  now  all  these  spurious  ventures,  and  returning 
for  a  moment  to  the  genuine  and  general  writings  of  this  seven- 
teenth-century author,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  point  out,  as  we 
have  previously  done  in  the  case  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress," 
a  few  of  the  antiquarian  references,  unusual  or  obsolete  words, 
and  proverbial  or  popular  expressions  they  contain.  Bunyan 
speaks  of  people  dying  quietly  "  like  unto  chrisom-children,"  that 
is,  like  unto  children  who,  dying  within  the  month  after  their 
baptism,  were  shrouded  in  the  white  cloth,  the  chrisom  put  on 
the  head  at  baptism,  and  who  M'ere  supposed  to  die  in  special 
innocency  and  peace.  In  the  "  Holy  War,"  he  speaks  of  the 
angels  "  riding  reformades  "  when  Emmanuel  came  to  deliver 
Mansoul,  that  is  coming  with  him  from  personal  interest,  in  a 
voluntary  rather  than  an  official  capacity.  He  speaks  of  doing 
a  thing  "  without  indenting,"  that  is,  without  making  a  bar- 
gain, of  "  bating  God  an  ace,"  of  being  "  one  of  God's  white- 
boys  "  or  specially  beloved  ones ;  of  "  trencher-chaplains,"  of 
"  hedge-creepers,"  in  the  sense  of  foot-pads,  and  of  "  sensi- 
tives," meaning  thereby  animals  acting  from  instinct  rather 
than  reason. 

We  have  such  expressions  as  "to  learn  me";  "while  of 
late,"  meaning  till  of  late  ;  "  most  an  end,"  that  is  continually; 
"  it  principles  us,"  "  to  be  principled  so  to  do  "  ;  "  to  grammar 
and  settle  the  common  people  "  ;  "  they  mattered  no  words," 
that  is,  paid  no  attention;  "more  groundedly,"  that  is  with 
better  foundation;  "he  told  his  tale  the  rightest "  ;  "he  be- 
takes himself  to  house";  "he  got  a  haunt,"  tliat  is,  was 
marked  by  the  habit. 

Scattered  hero  and  there  are  proverbial  expressions  like 
these:  "as  familiar  as  the  boy  with  the  bird  "  ;  "  to  turn  and 
twist  like  an  eel  on  an  angle  "  ;  "  as  poor  as  howlets  "  ;  "  they 
brought  their  noble  fo  ninepence  "  ;  "  a  snowball  loses  nothintr 
by  rolling"  ;  "  as  while  as  a  clout"  ;  "to  keep  at  stave's  end  "'  ; 
"thou  htandest  upon  thy  points  and  pantablcs  "  ;  "a  tongue 
tipt  with  talk  and  tattle  "  ;  "  to  grow  lean  and  look  like  an 
anatomy."  We  liave  also  Kuch  unusual  words  as  overly  for 
Hlighlly,  glavering,  gravelled,  to   fainblc,  that  is   to  fallt-r;    to 


450  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xvm. 

dalf  for  to  doff,  to  slagar  for  to  slacken ;  to  scrabble,  bicker- 
ment,  malapertness,  dotterel,  Irusturate,  blandation,  acbare  for 
ajar,  gleads,  and  a  gload  for  bright  rays ;  a  flam  or  fable  ; 
spaked,  in  the  sense  of  defective,  me-hap-soes,  thodes,  that  is 
gusts,  or  blasts  of  wind,  and  runagates. 

Mingling  as  Bunyan  did  all  his  life  with  the  common 
people,  he  abounds  in  such  expressions  as  these  :  to  flatter  and 
cogg,  to  tick  and  toy,  to  shuck  and  cringe,  to  shuck  and  shrink, 
to  winch  and  shuck,  he  glavers  and  flatters,  butted  and 
bounded,  streaks  and  smirches,  frampered  Christians,  squab- 
bling frumps  and  taunts,  childish  talk  and  frumpered  carriages. 
We  have  such  expressions  as  :  "  to  talk  too  much  at  rovers," 
"  to  run  headlong  upon  a  bravado,"  "  to  lie  in  a  lazy  manner  at 
to-elbow,"  to  be  "  snafiled  under  guilt  and  terror,"  "  to  lie 
grabbing  under  black  thoughts,"  "  to  perk  it  and  lord  it,"  "  to 
punctilio,"  "  to  make  orts,"  that  is  refuse,  "  to  pole  and  peel 
and  rob." 

As  a  writer  of  nervous  and  forcible  English  of  the  kind  that 
carries  with  it  the  warm  glow  of  its  prevailing  Saxon  element, 
few  have  equalled  the  untrained  man  whose  works  we  have  been 
considering,  his  power  being  native  and  inherent  rather  than 
acquired.  The  very  earliest  product  of  his  pen,  the  book 
entitled  "  Some  Gospel  Truths  Opened,"  which  appeared  in 
1656,  and  only  a  few  months  after  he  had  commenced  preach- 
ing, was  a  remarkable  production  for  a  working  man,  whose 
schooling  was  a  far-off  memory,  and  who  was  occupied  all  the 
week  at  the  handicraft  of  a  tinker.  There  is  an  ease  of  style 
and  a  directness  of  speech,  together  with  logical  arrangement 
and  coherence  such  as  we  should  not  have  looked  for  in  one  so 
untrained  and  unpractised  as  he.  In  his  later  works  there 
are  signs  of  growth,  of  course,  but  this  first  book  of  his,  thrown 
off  at  a  heat,  will  bear  favourable  comparison  with  most  of 
them  as  to  clearness  and  force.  There  are  in  it  no  affectations 
of  style,  there  is  no  aiming  at  mere  fine  writing,  that  bane  of 
beginners.  He  speaks  because  he  has  something  he  much 
wishes  to  say,  and  he  says  it  in  the  most  direct  way  he 
can.  With  some  obvious  deductions,  what  has  been  said  about 
the  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  will  largely  apply  to  his  other 
works : — 


BUyYAN'S  POSTIir JW US  PUBLICATIOXS.       Ab\ 

"  The  style  of  Bunyan  is  delightful  to  every  reader,  and  invalu- 
able as  a  study  to  evory  person  who  ■wishes  to  obtain  a  wide  com- 
mand over  the  English  language.  The  vocabulary  is  the  vocabulary 
of  the  common  people.  There  is  not  an  expression,  if  we  excejit 
a  few  technical  terms  of  theology,  which  would  puzzle  the  rudest 
peasant.  We  have  observed  several  pages  which  do  not  contain  a 
single  word  of  more  than  two  syllables.  Yet  no  writer  has  said  more 
exactly  what  he  meant  to  say.  For  magnificence,  for  pathos,  for 
vehement  exhortation,  for  subtle  disquisition,  for  every  purpose  of 
the  poet,  the  orator,  and  the  divine,  this  homely  dialect,  the  dialect 
of  plain  working  men,  was  perfectly  sufficient.  There  is  no  book 
in  our  literature  on  which  we  would  so  readily  stake  the  fame  of  the 
old  unpolluted  English  language,  no  book  which  shows  so  well  how 
rich  that  language  is  in  its  own  proper  wealth,  and  how  little  it  has 
been  improved  by  all  that  it  has  borrowed."  * 

As  to  the  intellectual  value  of  the  general  writings  of 
Bunyan  little  need  be  added  to  what  has  been  already  said  upon 
each  work  in  detail.  The  secret  of  his  success  is  not  that  he 
was  a  great  theologian  profoundly  striking  to  the  heart  of 
spiritual  truth,  and  showing  it  in  new  relations  to  meet  the 
needs  of  the  new  time.  To  be  a  pioneer  to  unexplored  realms 
of  truth  was  not  his  function,  as  indeed  it  is  the  function  of 
Lilt  few  in  any  generation.  The  mental  difficulties  of  many 
men  would  begin  at  tlie  point  where  Bunyan  left  off.  Accept- 
ing implicitly  the  Puritan  system  of  religious  thought  as  he 
found  it,  he  neither  questions  nor  hesitates.  A  verse  from  any 
part  of  Scripture  has  for  him  equal  and  decisive  authority, 
settling  problems  the  most  complex  and  profound.  To  say 
this  is  only  to  say  that  he  was  the  child  of  the  seventcentli 
century  rather  than  of  the  nineteenth.  Ills  service  to  humanity 
was,  therefore,  not  that  of  massively  grouping  great  truths  inte 
svstematic  form  and  opening  tlio  way  to  new  realms  of  light. 
What  lie  did,  and  did  powerfully,  was  to  make  vital  with  the 
warm  life-blood  of  his  own  strong  heart  truths  and  systems 
already  in  existence  around  him.      With  the  wealth  of  his  own 

•  Macaiilay't  Fsnayii,  vol.  i.  ;  mo  aliio  Roullioy'B  edition  of  tho  "Pilgrim's 
Progress."  Studtet  in  the  Engligh  of  John  liHtiijan.  Uy  J.  li.  ( Irier.  1872.  riiuo. 
Grammatical  Nutei  on  the  Lamjuaije  of  John  liniiijan.  \\y  Alcxundcr  E.  Wid- 
holm,  Licentiiito  in  Philosophy.  With  permihsion  of  tho  Philosophical  I'licuUy 
of  Lund  [Sweden]  to  be  publicly  muintained  for  Uio  degree  of  Doctor  of 
i'hilosopby.     Junkopiog.      Ib77.     4lo. 

U  U  2 


452  JOUN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.   xvm. 

opulent  imagination  he  places  these  in  vivid  and  striking  light, 
and  in  such  fervid  shape  that  at  once  they  lay  hold  of  the 
popular  mind  and  heart.  Beautiful  images,  vivid  expressions, 
forcible  arguments  all  aglow  with  passion,  tender  pleadings, 
solemn  warnings,  these,  all  through  his  writings  as  through 
his  preaching,  make  those  to  whom  he  speaks  all  eye,  all  ear, 
all  soul.  To  use  a  phrase  which  has  come  to  have  an  equivocal 
significance,  he  was  a  popular  preacher  and  writer,  but  only  in 
a  high  and  noble  sense.  He  never  panders  to  the  mere  love  of 
excitement  and  novelty.  His  errand  is  much  too  serious,  and 
men's  need  and  peril  much  too  urgent,  for  him  to  waste  time 
and  power  in  merely  playing  before  them  on  a  pleasant  instru- 
ment. He  would  beseech  them  with  tears,  as  Paul  did,  and 
like  him,  too,  speak  with  authority  as  a  messenger  from  heaven. 
To  him  the  burning  pit  was  a  reality,  from  which  he  had  him- 
self barely  escaped,  and  heaven  a  substantial  verity  he  could 
all  but  see.  The  master  passion  of  his  soul  was  love  to  that 
redeeming  Son  of  God  to  whom  he  felt  he  owed  everything, 
and  whose  glory  it  was  the  joy  of  his  life  to  unfold  to  his 
fellows.  These  are  the  special  characteristics  of  the  writings 
of  this  great  Nonconformist  preacher,  and  they  are  an  adequate 
explanation  of  the  firm  hold  he  has  secured  upon  the  hearts 
of  the  people  to  whom  he  spoke  and  wrote. 


XTX. 

EDITIONS,  VERSIOXS,  ILLUSTRATIOXS.AND  TMTTA- 
TIOXS  OF  THE  "PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS." 

The  story  of  the  first  creation  of  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  has 
been  told  already,  the  story  of  its  after-circulation  is  not 
unworthy  to  be  told  also.  A  book  by  an  English  writer,  which 
has  been  sold  by  hundreds  of  thousands  in  this  country,  in  the 
British  Colonies  and  in  the  United  States  of  America  ;  which 
has  been  translated  into  between  seventy  and  eighty  languages 
and  dialects  of  other  countries ;  and  which  after  two  centuries 
is  still  continually  reappearing  in  new  forms  and  translations, 
is,  leaving  the  Bible  out  of  account,  a  fact  unique  in  literature 
"When  Southey  sent  forth  a  new  edition  of  the  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress  "  in  18''i0,  he  mentions  that  at  that  time  there  was  no 
copy  of  the  first  edition  of  the  First  Part  known  to  be  in 
existence,  that  there  was  a  second  edition  in  the  British  Museum, 
but  that  the  earliest  besides  which  his  publishers  had  been  able 
to  obtain  for  him,  either  by  means  of  diligent  inquiries  or  the 
kindness  of  friends,  was  the  ciglith  edition  of  1082.  Since  tlien 
five  copies  of  the  first  edition  have  come  to  light,  there  are  also 
four  copies  of  the  second  edition  and  three  of  the  third.  Jiesides 
these  three  editions  which  show  the  book  in  its  three  stages  of 
growth,  there  are  existing  copies  of  all  the  editions  down  to  our 
own  times,  except  the  seventh  and  the  seventeenth.*  So  that 
there  are  sufficient  materials  for  a  complete  bibliography  of  the 
subject. 

•  In  tho  I,<nor  Libnirj',  Now  York,  thoro  is  a  rcunjdi'to  sc  ries  of  oditi'ms  fiori 
tho  IhI  to  ihu  :JUli,  with  t)io  cxccjition  of  tho  7th,  1 1th,  uml  17lh.  In  llio  Ihitish 
.Musijiim  thiro  Ih  ii  coiiii)lit<;  MoricH,  with  tho  oxciiitioa  of  tho  'Jth,  12lli,  lltli, 
17th,  18th,  19th,  20th.  Uf  thoHo  thuH  niisMinff  from  tho  Niitiomil  Collodion, 
tin  ri-  wore  two  0th  <<litionH  ;  on<!  of  IGH.'J,  tho  (jthor  of  lOSl.  'J'ho  firHt  ifi  in  tlio 
I)')-!*' KMion  fif  >Ir.  Tiirhult,  tho  noc>n<l  ia  in  tho  Hunyiin  Colhjction  ;il  l?i  ijf  iiii,  us 
18  also  tho  I'ith  edition;  tho  Mth  edition  is  in  tho  Dudlvian. 


4o4 


JOHN  BTJNYAN. 


fCHAP.  XIX. 


Of  the  five  copies  of  the  first  edition  of  the  First  Part  of  the 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  the  one  which  came  first  to  light,  that  in 
the  possession  of  R.  S.  Holford,  Esq.,  of  Tetbury,  Gloucester- 
shire, and  Park  Lane,  is  still  the  most  interesting,  inasmuch  as 
it  is  in  perfect  preservation,  and  is  in  the  original  sheep-leather 
binding,  the  sections  also  being  sewn  round  strips  of  leather 
instead  of  cord.  It  was  purchased  several  years  ago  with  the 
rest  of  the  books  in  Lord  Yemen's  library,  where  it  had 
apparently  lain  undisturbed  since  its  first  publication.  A 
second  copy  is  in  the  Lenox  Library,  Central  Park,  New  York, 
having  been  purchased  by  the  late  Mr.  Lenox  from  Mr.  Picker- 
ing the  publisher.  A  third  copy  is  the  property  of  Mr.  Elliot 
Stock,  by  whom  it  was  purchased  from  Mr.  Coombs,  bookseller, 
Worcester,  who  acquired  it  with  some  miscellaneous  purchases. 
The  fourth  copy  was  purchased  for  the  British  Museum  in  1884 
from  the  E,ev.  Ernest  S.  Thies,  Wesleyan  minister.  It  had 
been  for  many  years  in  the  possession  of  his  brother-in-law, 
Mr.  Thorne,  of  Dalston,  to  whom  it  came  through  a  kinsman 
who  was  a  book-collector.  The  fifth  copy  was  brought  to  light, 
in  February,  1886,  through  the  publication  of  the  first  edition 
of  this  work.  It  is  the  property  of  Mr.  Nash,  of  Langley, 
Slough,  and  is  in  perfect  condition.  It  appears  to  have  been 
rebound  in  calf  in  the  early  part  of  last  century,  and  is  unique 
among  these  five  copies  of  the  first  edition,  in  that  it  has  for  a 
frontispiece  White's  sleeping  portrait  of  Bunyan.  This  may, 
however,  have  been  added  when  the  book  was  rebound.  There 
are  copies  of  the  second  and  third  editions  in  the  British 
Museum,  the  Bodleian,  and  the  Lenox  Libraries,  and  of  the 
second  edition  only  in  the  University  Library,  Cambridge,  and 
in  Regent's  Park  College  Library.  Of  the  first  edition  of  the 
Second  Part  of  the  work  there  are  only  two  copies  known, 
one  being  in  the  Lenox  Library,  the  other  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  Elliot  Stock. 

After  the  first  three  editions  of  the  First  Part,  when,  having 
received  the  additions  of  Worldly  Wiseman  and  By-ends,  the 
book  was  practically  complete,  there  were  only  a  few  unimpor- 
tant subsequent  additions,  consisting  of  Scripture  passages  and 
marginal  references.  The  interest  of  succeeding  editions  lies 
therefore  mainly  in  the  question  of  illustrations,  and  for  a  century 


\Gsi-84.i  ED  moNS,  Etc.,  of  '-PiLGRnr  s  progress:'  155 

there  was  in  this  country  nothing  in  this  way  really  artistic. 
An  ideally  perfect  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  would  have  been  the 
Pilgrim  story  by  Bunyan  with  illustrations  by  Albrecht 
Diirer  or  Hans  Holbein.  But  this  was,  of  course,  impossible, 
and  with  the  exception  of  White's  sleeping  portrait  the  earliest 
engravings  to  the  work  were  of  the  rudest  possible  kind.  The 
first  and  second  editions  had  no  illustrations  whatever;  the  third 
and  fourth  (1680)  had  only  the  sleeping  portrait  as  a  frontis- 
piece; the  fifth  (1G80)  had  an  inferior  copy  of  the  portrait  and 
one  rude  engraving  (p.  128)  of  the  martyrdom  of  Faithful,  with 
these  lines,  evidently  from  Bunyan's  pen,  underneath  : — 

"  Brave  Faithful,  bravely  done  in  word  and  deed : 
Judge,  witnesses,  and  jury,  have  instecd 
Of  overcoming  thee,  but  shown  their  rage. 
When  they  are  dead,  thou'lt  live  from  age  to  age." 

On  the  verso  of  the  frontispiece  portrait  was  the  following  : — 
"  Advertisement :  The  '  Pilgrim's  Progress  '  having  found  good 
Acceptation  among  the  People,  to  the  carrying  of  the  Fourth 
Impression,  which  had  many  Additions,  more  than  any  pre- 
ceding :  And  the  Publisher  observing  that  many  Persons 
desired  to  have  it  illustrated  with  Pictures  hath  endeavoured  to 
'^ratific  them  therein  :  And  besides  those  that  are  ordinarily 
Printed  to  the  Fifth  Impression  [i.e.  portrait  and  burning  of 
Faithful]  hath  provided  Thirteen  Copper  Cuts  curiously 
Engraven  for  such  as  desire  them."  These  cuts  were  charged 
a  shilling  extra,  and  were  sold  either  separately  or  with  the  book. 
This  probably  accounts  for  the  fact  that  there  were  two  fifth  and 
two  sixth  editions.  No  specimens  of  these  copper-plate  engrav- 
ings have  been  preserved,  unless  they  are  the  illustrations 
found  in  the  fifth  edition  of  1G82  in  the  Lenox  Library  ;  but 
reproduced  on  wood  they  were  probably  those  added  to  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  editions. 

The  sixth  edition  (1G81)  had  a  better  engraved  portrait  than 
the  fifth  and  also  the  same  wood  engraving  of  the  burning  of 
Faithful.  Of  the  seventh  we  know  nothing,  but  the  eighth 
(1082),  the  ninth  (1084)  hud  the  same  illustrations  as  before, 
with  two  additional,  one  a  rude  engraving  of  (JiaTit  Despair,  the 
other  a  better  one   representing  th(!  pilgrims  soaring  tlirough 


450  ■  JOHN  BUN Y AN.  [chap.  xix. 

the  clouds  after  crossing  the  river.    In  the  tenth  edition  (1685) 
Giant  Despair  has  disappeared,  but  the  other  two  remain. 

It  was  in  the  eleventh  edition  of  1688,  the  last  which  came 
out  in  Banyan's  life-time,  and  the  last  directly  published  by 
Nathaniel  Ponder,*  that  the  greatest  changes  were  made  in  the 
matter  of  illustration.  This,  as  well  as  the  twelfth  edition  of 
1689,  contained,  in  addition  to  the  three  engravings  of  the  tenth 
edition,  twelve  others,  viz.  :  (1)  Christian  meeting  with 
Evangelist ;  (2)  Christian  and  Worldly  Wiseman  ;  (3)  At  the 
Wicket-gate  ;  (4)  The  Burden  falling  off;  (5)  In  the  Arbour  ; 
(6)  Passing  the  Lions ;  (7)  Descending  into  the  Valley  of 
Humiliation  ;  (8)  The  Fight  with  Apollyon  ;  (9)  The  Valley  of 
the  Shadow  of  Death;  (10)  Faithful  on  his  trial;  (11)  The 
Pilgrims  and  the  Shepherds  ;  (12)  The  Pilgrims  soaring  through 
the  Clouds. 

Subsequent  changes  were  made,  to  a  right  understanding  of 
which  we  must  now  cross  over  to  Amsterdam  and  see  what  was 
taking  place  there.  In  1682  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  was 
translated  into  Dutch  and  published  by  Joannes  Boekholt  in 
a  well-printed  edition  bound  in  vellum. t  It  had  a  copper-plate 
frontispiece  of  Christian  at  the  Wicket-gate,  and  also  eleven 
small  copper-plate  engravings  (2|  in.  by  2  in.)  printed  on  the 
same  pages  as  the  letterpress,  but,  of  coui'se,  by  a  separate  im- 
pression. These  plates  seem  not  to  have  been  used  again,  but  in 
1685  Boekholt  published  a  superior  edition  of  the  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress  "  in  Flemish  French  for  the  Walloons.;];  The  ordi- 
nance of  State  authorising  its  publication  is  prefixed,  is  in  Dutch, 
and   signed   by  Gasp.  Farel,  16  May,  1684.      The  work  was 

*  Th3  12th  edition  is  described  as  printed  for  Robert  Ponder,  and  sold  by  the 
booksellers  of  London,  1689  ;  the  13th  edition  as  printed  for  Robert  Ponder,  and 
are  to  be  sold  by  Nich.  Boddington  at  the  Golden  Ball  in  Duck  Lane,  1693. 
With  the  14th  edition  Nathaniel  Ponder  reappears.  It  is  described  as  printed 
for  W.  P.,  and  are  to  be  sold  by  Nat.  Ponder  in  London-House  Yard,  near  the  west 
end  of  St.  Paul's,  1695.  So  that  he  is  no  longer  at  tbe  Peacock  in  the  Poultry  ; 
and  this  is  the  last  time  we  find  his  name  on  the  title-page  of  the  Pilgrim. 

t  Eens  Christens  Reyse  na  de  Eeuwigheyt.  In't  Engels  beschreven  door 
Mr.  Joannes  Bunj an :  Leeraar  in  Bedford.  T' Amsterdam  :  Joannes  Boekholt. 
1682. 

X  Voyage  (Vun  Chrestien  vers  V  Eternite.  Ecrit  en  Anglois,  par  Monsieur 
Bunjan,  F.  M.  en  Bedtfort,  et  nouvellement  traduit  en  Fran(,'uis.  Avec  Figures. 
Amsterdam,  Chez  Jean  Boekholt,  1685.     Avec  Privilegie. 


1693.]  EDITIOXS,  Etc.,  of  "FlLGI^nrS  FROGFESS."  457 

beautifully  priuted,  but  its  special  interest  to  us  just  now  lies  in 
the  fact  that  it  was  illustrated  by  nine  copper-plate  engravings, 
which  have  not  only  been  continued  in  the  various  Dutch 
editions  down  to  our  own  time,  but  seven  out  of  the  nine  were 
reproduced  after  a  rude  fashion  and  added  to  the  English 
editions  also.  At  first  only  one  of  these  was  imported.  In  the 
thirteenth  edition  (1093)  the  Dutch  engraving  representing 
Christian  and  Hopeful  crossing  the  river  was  substituted  for  the 
English  one  where  they  are  seen  soaring  through  the  clouds. 
But,  oddly  enough,  though  the  print  was  changed  the  four  lines 
underneath  the  old  picture  remained  unchanged,  and  we  see 
the  pilgrims  struggling  through  the  river,  with  this  verse  a8 
descriptive  of  the  scene  : — 

"  Now,  now  look  how  the  holy  Pilgrims  ride, 
Clouds  are  their  chariots,  angels  are  their  guide  : 
AVho  would  not  here  for  him  all  hazards  run, 
That  thus  provides  for  his  when  this  world's  done  ! " 

This  absurd  mistake  was  repeated  edition  after  edition  for  nearly 
a  century.  It  may  be  seen  in  the  one  issued  by  John  Riving- 
ton  and  Sons  as  late  as  178G,  and  possibly  there  were  others 
even  later  still. 

One  Dutch  picture  being  thus  introduced  in  the  thirteenth 
edition  the  process  went  forward,  and  in  the  fourteenth  (lGf)5) 
all  but  two  of  Buckholt's  engravings  were  added.  So  that  from 
this  time  seven  English  and  seven  Dutch  engravings  appeared 
too-ether  in  all  the  small  editions  down  to  about  1780.*  Boek- 
holt's  originals  were  well  executed  ;  but  the  English  copies 
became  ruder  and  coarser  by  repetition  till  they  were  at  last 
almost  illegible. 

The  name  of  Nicholas  Boddington  first  appears  on  the  title- 
page  of  Bunyan's  dream  with  the  thirteenth  edition  of  KI!);}. 
It  is  to  this  publisher  Gay's  humorous  reference  points  in  his 
farce  of  "  Wliat-d'ye-call  it  ?  "  where  he  represents  a  man  about 

•  The  Engltth  cnt?ruvinx»  which  were  droiipod  were,  (1)  Worldly  Wiseman  ; 
(2)  At  the  Wicket  Gate  ;  (3)  In  Iho  Arhour;  (4)  Di-srcnding  into  the  Valley  of 
Humiliation;  (5)  Aj^dlyon  ;  (0)  Viill(;y  of  the  Shadow  of  Death;  (7)  Soaring 
through  the  Clouds.  Tlio  Dutch  pictures  inserted  were.  (I)  Clirmtian  at  Siiuii  ; 
(2)  At  the  Wicket  (into;  (3)  Hill  Difficulty;  (4)  Purioy  with  Apollyon  ; 
'p)  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death ;  (0)  Vanity  Fair;  (7)  Crossing  the  Itiver. 


458  JOHN  BUNYAN.  fcHAP.  xix. 

to  be  shot,  wBen  a  countryman  offers  him  a  book  to  pray  by  ; 
he  takes  it  and  says — 

"IwiU!  I  will! 
Lend  me  th)'  handkercher  [reads  and  iceeps].     '  The  Pilgrim's  Pro — 
I  cannot  see  for  tears  ;  '  Pro— Progress  : '  Oh  ! 
'  The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  eighth  edi-ti-on  : 
London  print-ed-for-Ni-cho-las  Bod-ding-ton : 
With  new  ad-di-tions  never  made  before  :  ' 
Oh,  'tis  so  moving,  I  can  read  no  more  !  " 

This  farce  was  first  acted  in  1715,  and  while  it  proves  nothing 
as  to  the  date  of  the  editions  it  proves  much  as  to  the  popularity 
of  the  book.  John  Dunton  tells  us  of  this  new  publisher, 
Nicholas  Boddington,  that  "by  an  industrious  management  he 
has  gathered  a  good  estate  and  makes  a  considerable  figure  in 
the  Parish  where  he  lives." 

The  editions  of  which  we  have  been  speaking  were  those  dul}'- 
authorised ;  but  besides  these  there  were  numerous  pirated 
editions  about  which,  as  early  as  1680,  Nathaniel  Ponder  com- 
plained bitterly.  In  the  fourth  edition  of  that  year  there  is  the 
following :  "  Advertisement  from  the  Bookseller.  The  Pilgrim's 
Progress,  having  sold  several  Impressions,  and  with  good 
Acceptation  among  the  People  (there  are  some  malicious  men 
of  our  profession,  of  lewd  principles,  hating  honesty,  and  covet- 
ing other  men's  rights,  and  which  we  call  Land  Pirates,  one  of 
this  society  is  Thomas  Brachjl  a  Printer,  who  I  found  Actually 
printing  my  Book  for  himself,  and  five  more  of  his  Confede- 
rates)." *  One  of  these  pirated  editions  is  before  me  as  I 
write,  and  both  in  type  and  paper  is  greatly  inferior  to  those 
issued  by  Ponder  himself,  though  it  boldly  bears  his  name  on 
the  title-page,  claims  to  be  licensed,  and  to  be  the  fifth  edition 
of  1682.  Doe  tells  us  that  100,000  copies  of  the  "Pilgrim's 
Progress  "  were  sold  in  Bunyan's  life-time,  a  remarkable  fact 
in  an  age  when  the  buyers  and  readers  of  books  were  relatively 
few.        As    time    went  on    editions    multiplied    to    meet    the 

*  Over  against  this  testimony  by  Ponder  it  is  only  fair  to  place  that  by 
John  Dunton  the  bookseller,  who  saya  :  "  Mr.  Braddyll  a  firstrate  printer.  He 
is  religiously  true  to  his  word  and  faithful  to  the  booksellers  that  employ  him. 
But  Mr.  Braddyll  h.is  mot  with  back  enemies.  I  dealt  with  him  for  many  years, 
and  have  not  only  found  him  just,  but  well  accomplished  as  a  printer."  Lijc 
and  Errors  of  John  JJiaUoti.     London,  1818. 


\12S.^  FDITIOXS,  Etc.,    of  ^'PILGRIirS  PROGRESS:'  459 

popular  demand,  and  as  they  multiplied,  the  get-up  of  the 
book  deteriorated,  till  at  last,  as  Grainger  tells  us,  it  was  often 
printed  on  tobacco  paper,  and  the  illustrations  became  coarser 
and  more  smirchy.  There  were  editions  published  even  by  re- 
spectable houses  like  Caddel  and  Dodslcy  (1783),  John  Riving- 
ton  and  Sons  (178G),  and  Osborne  and  Griffin  (1787),  having 
illustrations  such  as  we  usually  associate  only  with  the  name 
and  fame  of  James  Catnach  of  the  Seven  Dials.  There  was  an 
edition  also  with  dreadful  woodcuts  issued  in  octavo  form  in 
1768  by  D.  Bunyan  of  Fleet  Street,  who  may  have  been 
remotel}'  a  kinsman  of  the  author — as  may  also  have  been  that 
"  J.  Bunyan  above  the  Monument "  who  published  an  edition 
of  the  "  Heavenly  Footman  "  in  1777. 

But  though  inferior  copies  like  these  continued  to  be  produced 
till  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  editions  of  a  more  ambitious 
character  began  to  be  sent  forth  as  early  as  1728.  In  that  year 
there  appeared  in  octavo  form  and  on  good  paper  "the  two-and- 
twentieth  edition,  adorned  with  twenty-two  copper-plates 
engraven  by  J.  Sturt."  It  was  published  by  J.  Clarke,  who  had 
succeeded  Nicholas  Boddington  at  the  "  Golden  Ball "  in  Duck 
Lane,  and  in  the  preface  it  was  stated  that  being  unable  to  read 
the  poor  print  of  the  copies  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress"  usually 
sold,  "  some  persons  of  distinction  and  piety,"  in  order  to 
remedy  that  inconvenience,  had  "  proposed  that  it  might  be 
sent  into  the  world  in  the  handsome  manner  it  now  appears." 
The  writer  of  this  preface  goes  on  to  say  that  after  the  great 
care  taken  in  the  printing*  and  engraving  "  it  is  not  in  the  least 
doubted  but  tlie  whole  will  give  such  entire  satisfaction  to  the 
public  in  general,  as  well  as  to  those  worthy  gentlemen  in  par- 
ticular who  have  so  handsomely  and  generously  contributed  to 

•  Notwithstanding  tho  great  caro  thus  said  to  bo  taken  in  the  printing  of  this, 
whi<  h  was  long  reprinted  as  tho  standard  edition,  some  extraordinary  errors 
(Tf  pt  iu,  and  were  repeated  for  more  than  thirty  years.  In  I'art  I.,  p.  'Ji5. 
•*  brute  "  is  altered  to  "  Itrewcr,"  and  it  is  said  of  Talkative,  "  Yea,  tho  Ifrewer, 
ill  his  kind,  serves  God  fur  better  than  he  ;  "  p.  152,  a  lino  was  lefl  out ;  p.  180, 
"uneduly"  wan  altered  to  "one  day;"  p.  189,  "our  thoughts"  was  printed 
"tho  U»<iUght8."  In  I'ait  II.,  p.  Go,  "lions"  was  changed  to  "lines;"  p.  71, 
in  the  catcchi.iing  by  Prudence,  tho  answer  to  tho  question,  "  How  doth  God  tho 
."•on  save  us?"  was  entirely  left  out,  together  with  tlio  f(jllowiiit(  queMlion  ; 
p.  IS5,  a  line  was  lelt  out ;  p.  1G3,  "  stages  "'  was  altered  \/>  "bliibius,"  and  the 
liuo  re.id,  "  Behold,  how  fitly  are  tho  SUiblcs  set !  " 


460  JOHN  B  UN  YA K  [chap,  xix . 

this  beautiful  edition,  by  their  large  subscriptions,  as  will  fully 
answer  their  expectation."  The  belief  thus  expressed  seems 
not  to  have  been  in  vain.  In  the  preface  to  his  folio  edition  of 
Bunyan's  Works  in  1736-7  Samuel  Wilson  says  :  "  Nor  was  it 
a  little  pleasing  to  me  to  see  the  encouragement  which  the 
polite  part  of  mankind  lately  gave  to  the  new  Cloathing  of  his 
Pilgrim,  a  book  which  has  been  translated  almost  into  every 
language."  Six  of  these  new  and  larger  engravings  by  Sturt 
were  largely  indebted  in  their  conception  to  the  Dutch  pictures 
of  1685.  The  last  engraving  to  the  First  Part,  for  example, 
gives  the  forms  of  Christian  and  Hopeful  crossing  the  river, 
angels  waiting  for  them  on  the  farther  shore,  as  in  Boekholt's 
engraving,  only  that  the  pilgrims  are  crossing  from  left  to  right 
instead  of  from  right  to  left,  and  again,  as  in  the  earlier  Eng- 
lish editions,  there  is  the  old  verse  underneath  about  their  riding 
through  the  clouds  on  chariots.  These  engravings,  while 
superior  to  those  previously  published  in  this  country,  were 
inferior  to  the  Dutch  originals,  being  some  of  them  badly  drawn 
and  grotesque  in  conception.  In  one  case,  for  instance.  Christian 
is  represented  as  clothed  in  figured  flowing  dressing-gown  and 
in  slippers,  and  as  running  up  the  Hill  Difficulty  at  a  pace 
which  indicated  considerable  athletic  power  on  his  part  and 
must  have  considerably  astonished  the  beholders.  This 
edition  of  1728  was  frequently  repeated  down  to  1800,  and  the 
engravings  printed  together,  four  on  a  page,  were  inserted  in  the 
folio  editions  of  1736-7  and  1767. 

In  the  collected  edition  of  Bunyan's  Works  published  by 
Alex.  Hogg  (1780)  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  with  the  "  Holy 
War  "  formed  the  seventh  volume.  The  whole  series  was  illus- 
trated by  plates  more  or  less  related  to  the  subject,  and  the 
editor  stated  that  as  the  copper-plates  to  the  old  editions  had 
been  more  a  disgrace  than  an  embellishment,  he  had  in  this 
edition  employed  the  most  able  and  renowned  artists  in  the 
kingdom,  so  that  the  illustrations  might  justly  correspond  with 
the  dignity  and  elegance  of  the  works  they  were  intended  to 
embellish.  Those  to  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  are  thirteen  in 
number,  and  are  of  no  special  merit.  They  were  chiefly  drawn 
and  engraved  by  G.  Burder,  and  are  inferior  to  those  given  with 
the  "  Holy  War,"  which  were  drawn  by  Hamilton  and  engraved 


1788-96.]  EDITIOXS,  Ftc,  OP  "PILGRnr S PROGRESS:'  IGI 

by  Grainger,  "V\'^alker,  Goldar  and  Thornton,  and  are  marked  by 
considerable  softness  and  depth. 

In  1786  a  few  engravings  of  higher  quality  were  published 
with  Harrison's  edition  of  that  year,  and  in  1792  a  series  of 
illustrations  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  was  issued  by  C. 
Sheppard  of  Doctor's  Commons.  In  1794  also  ho  sent  out  a 
new  and  larger  series  in  oblong  quarto,  to  be  sold  separately  from 
the  text  of  the  book.  These  engravings  are  destitute  of  the  least 
vestige  of  imaginative  power,  are  intensely  realistic,  and  to  the 
last  degree  marked  by  the  matter-of-fact  spirit  so  characteristic 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  sketch  of  Vanity  Fair,  for 
instance,  might  be  a  London  scene  from  one  of  Hogarth's 
pictures  ;  and  in  the  illustration  of  Doubting  Castle  the  very 
coat,  small-clothes,  and  shoe-buckles  of  Giant  Despair  are  in 
the  prevailing  mode  of  the  days  of  George  III. 

This  time  of  deepest  bathos,  of  the  apparent  extinction  of  all 
imagination,  was  yet,  strange  to  say,  the  birth-hour  also  of  the 
new  period  of  higher  artistic  life,  and  saw  the  production  of  a 
series  of  illustrations  to  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  which  have 
never  yet  been  surpassed.  In  1788  Mr.  Thane  of  the  Hay- 
market  published  sixteen  designs  by  Thomas  Stothard,  R.A., 
which  were  engraved  in  his  best  style  by  the  antiquarian  artist 
Joseph  Strutt  during  his  residence  in  Hertfordshire.  To  those 
who  have  seen  these  engravings  it  is  needless  to  say  that  they 
are  all  marked  by  fine  artistic  feeling,  and  that  some  of  them, 
that  representing  the  Three  Shining  Ones  by  the  Cross,  for 
example,  are  characterised  by  exquisite  softness  and  grace. 
They  were  originally  issued  separately  from  the  book,  but  in 
1702  were  repeated  in  an  edition  published  by  ^lattliews  of  the 
Strand,  to  which  were  appended  "Notes  by  a  IJachelor  of  Arts  of 
the  University  of  Oxford."  [J.  ISradford.]  Reduced  in  size  and 
re-engraved  by  Stocks,  Goodall,  R.  Graves,  Mngleluart  and 
others,  they  were  reissued  in  18;V.),  with  descriptive  sonnets  by 
the  Rev.  George  Townsend,  I'rebendary  of  Durham,  and  again 
the  same  year  us  illustrations  to  an  edition  of  the  text  in  octavo. 
In  1807  also  they  were  given  with  an  edition  published  by  Henry 
G.  iJolm,  and  more  recently  still  were  reproduced  in  Autotype 
by  Messrs.  iJiikers  and  Sun,  in  connection  with  u  handsome 
edition  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  published  hy  them  In  1S8I. 


462  JOHN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  xix. 

The  edition  of  Bunyan's  Allegory  with  Stothard's  illus- 
trations in  their  original  form,  issued  in  1792,  was  followed 
in  1796  by  the  well-known  edition  of  T.  Heptinstall  of  Fleet 
Street.  This  came  out  in  large  octavo  and  was  illustrated 
by  eight  new  engravings,  three  of  them  by  Stothard,  the 
remaining  five  by  WooUey  and  Corbould,  the  whole  being 
engraved  by  Neagle,  Springsguth,  Collier,  Saunders,  and  Roth- 
well.  The  same  year  there  were  four  engravings  issued  with 
the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress "  forming  part  of  Cooke's  Pocket 
Edition  of  "Sacred  Classics."  These  engravings  were  of  high 
merit  and  specially  pleasing. 

Between  the  appearance  of  Heptinstall's  edition  in  1796  and 
that  edited  by  Southey  for  Murraj'-  and  Major  in  1830,  there 
were  some  twenty  octavo  editions  published  in  England,  besides 
numerous  others  in  smaller  forms.  Most  of  these  were  well 
printed,  and  we  may  single  out  for  special  mention  the  editions 
with  the  admirable  illustrations  by  Isaac  Taylor  (1805),  by  the 
celebrated  Thomas  Bewick,  after  Thurston  (1806),  by  L.  Clennell, 
one  of  Bewick's  pupils  (1811),  and  by  P.  Westall,  R.A.  (1820). 
These,  with  the  editions  printed  by  Henry  Fisher  at  the  Caxton 
Press  (1824),  by  George  Virtue  of  Ivy  Lane  (1830  ?),  and  the 
one  with  an  interesting  and  able  Introductory  Essay  on  the 
"  Genius  of  Bunyan,"  by  James  Montgomery  of  Sheffield,  all 
show  that  valuable  copies  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  were 
steadily  in  demand. 

The  edition  of  1830  by  the  poet  Southey  may  be  said  to  begin 
the  more  modern  series  reaching  down  to  our  own  time.  It  was 
described  by  Macaulay  in  that  same  year  as  "  an  eminently 
beautiful  and  splendid  edition  of  a  book  which  well  deserves  all 
that  the  printer  and  the  engraver  can  do  for  it."*  The  work 
was  illustrated  with  wood  engravings  by  Heath,  and  two  steel 
engravings  by  John  Martin,  representing  the  Valley  of  the 
Shadow  of  Death  and  the  Celestial  City.  The  latter  are  marked 
by  Martin's  peculiar  genius,  but  are  certainly  open  to  the 
damaging  criticism  brought  by  Macaulay  against  his  pictures 
generally,  that  "  those  things  which  are  mere  accessories  in 
the  descriptions  become  the  principal  objects  in  the  pictures  ; 
and   those  figures  which  are  most  prominent  in  the  descrip- 

*  Macaulay" s  Essays,  i.  132. 


1S44-83.]  EDITIOXS,  Etc.,  OF^TILGniM' S  rnOGRESSr  46;{ 

tions    can   be  detected    iu    the  pictures  only  by  a  very  close 
scrutiny."* 

The  fifty-five  years  which  have  elapsed  since  the  appearance 
of  this  edition  by  Southoy  have,  judging  by  the  number  and 
character  of  the  editions  by  which  it  has  been  followed,  been 
!uarked  by  a  steady  increase  rather  than  by  any  diminution  of 
interest  in  Bunyan's  Dream.  The  best  are  the  editions  pub- 
lished by  Fisher  and  illustrated  by  J.  M.  "VV.  Turner,  R.A., 
G.  Cruikshank,  and  others  :t  that  edited  by  Godwin  and  Pocock, 
in  oblong  folio  and  illustrated  by  the  prize  drawings  in  outline 
of  the  Art  Union,  executed  by  H.  C.  Selous ;  +  the  one  edited 
by  George  Ofi'or  for  the  Ilanserd  Knollj^s  Society  ;  §  that  pub- 
lished by  W.  Pickering  and  printed  at  the  Chiswick  Press 
(1849)  ;  the  two  editions  issued  the  same  year,  the  one  illus- 
trated by  "William  Harve}',!!  the  other  by  David  Scott,  R.S.  A.  ;  % 
the  edition  published  by  Bagster  in  1845  and  illustrated  by  his 
daughter  with  270  small  engravings,  some  of  which  are  of  great 
merit ;  **  those  with  the  illustrations  of  Sir  John  Gilbert, 
engraved  by  J.  W.  Whymper ;  ft  that  with  100  illustrations 
by  Thomas  Dalziel,JJ  and  the  one  with  tlie  coloured  plates  of 
11.  C.  Selous  and  the  wood-engravings  of  Selous,  Priolo,  and 
Friston.^§  An  excellent  edition  was  published  by  Macniillan 
and  Co.  in  18G'i,  which  was  adorned  with  a  charming 
vignette  by  AV.  Ilolman  Ilunt,  engraved  by  Jeens.  An  edition 
with  the  "  Grace  Abounding  "  appended  to  it,  carefully  edited 
for  the  Cloremhn  Prcsn  by  Canon  Venables,  was  published  in 
1879  ;  another,  called  the  "  Elstow  Edition,"  has  outline  draw- 
ings by  Gunston  and  others,  and  is  bound  in  oak-boards  taken 

•   Macaulaijg  Exiiayt,  i.  133. 

t  London  and  I'ariH :   Fi8h<r,  Son,  and  Co.     8vo. 

X  I>oiidon  :   M.  .M.  lloUoway,  Cov<;iit  (iiirdon,  1844.      F..Iio. 

§  London  :   Printed  for  the  Society  by  J.  lladdon,  1847.     8vo. 

H   L«jndon  :   D.  IJo(,'ue,  Fleet  Strict,  1850.     4to. 

H   London,  Edinburgh,  and  Dublin  :  A.  Fullarton  and  Co.,  1S.>U.     Larpi!  8vo. 

••  Of  tbftfle  Hmall  wood  (.nf^ruvingM  Uobert  Louiu  SlovcnHOn  Buys,  "  Tho  de- 
HJgner  hiiH  lain  down  and  dreutncd  a  dr<  am  iin  liti-ntl  and  ulnniHt  aH  u|>i)i>site  hh 
liiinyan'H  ;  and  text  and  piclunrH  make  but  tli<!  two  uidcH  of  the  tuiniu  hotnespun 
><:t  irnpa.<u>ioned  story." — liywayt  of  iSuuk  lUualratiun,  Muj^uziuo  of  Art,  Feb., 
1882. 

ft  I^jndon  :   Jumes  Niibet  and  (jo. 

XX  Ixjndon  :   Ward,  Lock,  and  Tyler. 

\\  London  :  Cusaell,  Putter,  and  CJulpin. 


464  JOHN  BUNYAN.  fcHAP.  xix. 

from  the  old  timber  of  Elstow  Church  at  the  time  the  church 
was  restored.*  The  last  new  illustrations  issued  are  the  spirited 
drawings  by  Gordon  Browne  in  an  edition  recently  published 
by  Sampson  Low  and  Co.  (1883). 

But  while  there  is  this  embarrassment  of  riches  in  really 
attractive  editions  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  issued  in  recent 
3^ears,  none  of  these  just  referred  to  attain  to  the  rank  of  the 
three  now  to  be  mentioned.  These  are,  the  one  illustrated  . 
by  C.  H,  Bennett  and  prefaced  by  Charles  Kingsley,t  that 
with  110  designs  by  J.  D.  Watson,  engraved  by  the  Brothers 
Dalziel,+  and  the  "Edition  de  Luxe"  published  by  Strahan 
and  Co.  in  1880.  The  illustrations  by  Charles  H.  Bennett 
strike  out  a  new  line,  and  are  simply  sketches  of  heads  as 
descriptive  of  character  instead  of  the  usual  scenes  and 
groupings.  The  kind,  strong  face  of  the  Interpreter  and 
the  womanly  grace  of  Discretion  are  strikingly  rendered  ; 
several  of  the  others  also  are  marked  by  great  power  and 
insight  into  character.  The  delineations  by  J.  D.  Watson 
are  in  that  eminent  artist's  best  manner,  and  make  the  edition 
which  has  had  the  advantage  of  his  pencil  one  of  the  most 
attractive  yet  issued.  The  "  Edition  de  Luxe,"  with  one 
hundred  illustrations  by  Frederick  Barnard,  Sir  J.  D.  Linton, 
and  others  is  a  most  princely  looking  copy  of  the  Tinker's 
Dream.  It  is  printed  on  special  Hand-made  Paper,  the  Proofs 
of  Illustrations  are  on  Japanese  Paper,  and  though,  of  course,  of 
varied  merit,  present  some  unusually  good  examples  of  artistic 
power.  The  representations  of  Great  Heart,  Valiant  for  Truth, 
and  Old  Honest,  from  the  pencil  of  Sir  J.  D.  Linton,  are  among 
the  finest  things  we  have.  Of  this  edition  there  were  500 
copies  printed,  200  of  which  were  taken  by  the  United  States. 

Besides  these  editions,  separate  illustrations  of  the  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress"  were  issued  by  F.  J.  Sheilds^  and  Claude  Reignier 
Conder,||  the  former  being  of  very  considerable  merit.     It  may 

*  London  :  John  Walker  and  Co.,  1881. 

t  London:  Bradbury,  Evans,  and  Co.,  1859.     4to. 

X  London:  lioutledge,  Warne,  and  Routledge,  1860.     4to. 

§  Illustrations  to  Bunyan^s  '■^  Fllyrim's  Progress,"  by  F.  J.  Sheilds.  Man- 
chester :  A.  Ireland.     1861. 

II  Pictorial  Scenes  froiri  "  Filgriins  Progress"  by  Claude  R.  Conder.  London: 
1869.     4to. 


EDITIOXS,  ETC.,  OF  ''PILGHnPS  PliOGIiJSSS:'     465 

be  mentioned  also  that  George  Cruikshank  left  behind  him  at 
his  death  a  series  of  new  illustrations  to  the  "  Pilirrim's  Pro- 
gress,"  drawn  on  wood,  ready  for  the  engraver.* 

Another  edition  worthy  of  mention  is  the  Fae-siraile  Copy  of 
the  First  Edition  of  1678,  published  by  Mr.  Elliot  Stock.  In 
this  the  First  and  Second  Parts  were  originally  printed  together, 
but  subsequently  a  more  literal  fac- simile  of  the  first  edition 
was  issued,  a  copy  of  which  may  now  be  had  for  a  shilling. 

The  cheap  editions  of  the  entire  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  issued 
of  recent  years  have  been  simph'-  numberless.  In  1855  it  formed 
the  330th  volume  of  the  Tauchnitz  series  published  at  Loipsic. 
Both  the  Religious  Tract  Society  and  the  Book  Society  have  for 
many  years  sent  forth  the  work  in  large  and  small  typo,  and  in 
various  attractive  forms  within  the  reach  of  all.  The  Tract 
Society,  especially,  has  rendered  service  it  is  impossible  to  over- 
estimate, not  only  in  issuing  these  English  editions,  but  in  co- 
operating with  missionaries  and  others  in  the  production  of 
very  many  of  the  foreign  versions.  In  some  cases  they  have 
undertaken  the  entire  publication  ;  in  others  they  have  fur- 
nished paper  and  plates.  Other  publishers  also  have  helped  to 
swell  the  stream  of  popular  supply.  A  paper  edition  in  quarto, 
with  100  illustrations  by  Thomas  Dalziel,  is  sold  by  AVard, 
Lock,  and  Co.  for  sixpence.  Editions  also  have  for  years  been 
published  at  a  penny  and  twopence,  and  the  Book  Society  has 
recently  sent  forth  one,  clearly  printed  on  good  paper  and  un- 
abridged, which  is  a  perfect  marvel  for  a  penny. f 

Besides  the  editions  published  in  London,  there  were  also  in 
former  years  many  published  in  the  provinces  by  country 
printers.  In  some  of  the  places  mentioned  there  were  several  suc- 
cessive editions,  but  the  following  is  the  order,  so  far  as  we  can 
now  ascertain  it,  of  the  first  appearance  of  these  country  issues : 
Shrewsbury  lOi^f);  Glasgow  1717;  Edinburgh  1750;  Notting- 
ham 1705  ;  Wolverhampton  17(j0  ;  Paisley  1772  ;  Coventry  and 
Gainsborough  1785  ;  Nesvcaslle  1787  ;  Preston  1700  ;  Dublin 
1705;  Bath  1700;  Manchester  1700;  liungay  18U5  ;  Taunlon 
(with  frontispiece    and   w(iod(MU8  by  Thomas   Bewick)    ISUU ; 

'   '1  li<  .-o   hlockx  iiro  ill   tlie  j)Ohh<-.'.t.i'Jii  of  Kdwitrd  Triiiimn,  Esfj.,  of  2.'J,  Old 
Iiiirliri>;t<in  Str<-ct,  W. 

t  Ltiiidon  :  The  Book  Society,  28,  PutornontcT  How.     Biistol  :  \V.  Muck. 

II  II 


466  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xix. 

Rotlierliam  1806 ;  Liverpool  1807 ;  Durham  1808  ;  Burslem 
1810 ;  Buckiugham  and  Wellington,  Salop,  1811  ;  Chelsea 
1824  ;  Halifax  1816 ;  Plymouth  and  Uxbridge  1822 ;  Oxford 
1815 ;  Komsey  1837  ;  Cambridge  1862 ;  in  all  twenty-seven 
places,  those  issuing'  the  greatest  number  of  editions  being 
Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  Coventry,  and  Grainsborough. 

Passing  from  our  own  country  it  may  now  be  mentioned  that 
in  less  than  three  years  after  its  first  appearance  the  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress "  was  reprinted  by  the  Puritan  colony  across  the 
Atlantic.  On  the  issue  of  the  Second  Part,  in  1684,  Bunyan 
could  say  of  the  First : 

"  'Tis  in  New  England  under  such  advance, 
Receives  there  so  much  loving  Countenance, 
As  to  be  Trim'd,  new- Cloth' d,  and  deck't  with  Gems, 
That  it  may  show  its  Features,  and  its  Limbs, 
Yet  more ;  so  comely  doth  my  Pilgrim  walk 
That  of  him  thousands  daily  sing  and  talk." 

A  copy  of  this  first  American  edition  was  formerly  in  the 
possession  of  the  late  George  Brinley  of  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
and  according  to  Mr.  Henry  Stevens  the  imprint  ran  thus  : — 
"  Boston  in  New  England  |  Printed  by  Samuel  Green  upon 
As  I  signment  of  Samuel  Sewall  and  |  are  to  be  sold  by  John 
Ysher  |  of  Boston  1681.*  |  It  was  hoped  that  this  interesting 
copy  would  have  been  found  among  Mr.  Brinley's  books  after 
his  death.  His  collection  was  left  in  the  care  of  Dr.  Trumball, 
Librarian  of  the  Watkinson  Library,  Hartford,  and  I  happened, 
during  a  visit  to  America,  to  call  upon  that  gentleman,  in  May, 
1882,  just  after  he  had  completed  his  search  for  this  first  edition, 
only  to  find  him  sorrowfully  regretting  that  it  was  nowhere  to 
be  found.  Subsequent  American  editions  in  the  Lenox  Library 
were  printed  at  Boston ;  New  York  ;  Philadelphia ;  Battle- 
borough,  Yt. ;  and  Cleveland,  Ohio.  It  is  not  possible,  however,  in 
the  case  of  the  United  States,  any  more  than  in  that  of  England,  to 
compute  with  any  approach  to  accuracy  the  untold  multitude  of 
editions  of  a  book  which,  along  with  that  of  Shakespeare,  forms 
the  strongest  link  in  the  literary  bond  binding  that  country  to 
ours.      Everywhere   through    the    States,    Bunyan's   name    is 

*  Contributions  to  a  Catalogue  of  the  Lenox  Library.  No.  IV.  Bunyan's 
rilgrim's  Progress,  &c.     New  York :  Printed  for  the  Trustees.     1879. 


EDITIOXS,  Etc.,  of  "PILGIiLirS  Pr^OGPLFSS:'     4G7 

found  as  a  household  word  and  his  Dream  among  the  house- 
hold treasures. 

We  come  next  to  the  interesting  question  of  the  many 
Foreign  Versions  of  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  that  have 
appeared.  The  book  had,  as  we  know,  begun  to  be  translated 
as  early  as  1682.  "With  pardonable  pride  Bunyun  himself  said 
in  1084: — 

"  In  France  and  Flanders,  whore  men  kill  each  other, 
^ly  Pilf/rim  is  esteemed  a  Friend,  a  Brother. 
In  Holland,  too,  'tis  said,  as  I  am  told, 
My  Pilgrim  is  with  some,  worth  more  than  gold." 

The  Dutch  translation  mentioned  last,  and  already  referred 
to,  was  probably  the  first  of  the  foreign  versions  in  order  of 
appearance,  being  published,  as  has  been  said,  by  Joannes 
Boekholt  of  Amsterdam,  in  1682.  The  book  seems  to  have 
been  early  and  for  long  a  favourite  with  the  people  of  Holland. 
Numerous  editions  have  appeared  both  at  Amsterdam,  Rotter- 
dam, Grciningen,  Utrecht,  Deventer,  Arnhem,  and  the  Ilague, 
and  continue  still  to  be  sent  forth. 

The  French  version,  prepared  by  Boekholt  for  the  Walloons 
in  1685,  is  thought  to  have  been  the  first  sent  forth  in  that 
language.  Bunyan,  however,  as  early  as  1684,  speaks  of  his 
"  Pilgrim  "  as  being  already  in  France  ;  if  so,  no  copy  of  that 
earlier  edition  remains  to  us.  A  new  French  translation, 
made  direct  from  the  English  and  beautifully  printed,  was 
I)ublished  at  Rotterdam,  in  1728,  and  described  as  the  Tliird 
Edition.*  The  reason  the  writer  in  his  preface  gives  for  this 
new  version  is,  that  Boekliolt's  was  inferior  as  being  in  tlie 
AValloon  patoia.  At  the  end,  there  were  printed  seven  "  Can- 
tiques  "  for  various  seasons,  by  B.  Pictet,  l*astor  and  Professor 
at  Geneva.  A  separate  French  edition  was  also  publislied  at 
Toulouse,  in  1788  ;  "  Avec  approbation  et  permission,"  tlie 
permission  being  signed  by  the  ^lanpiis  de  Villei-on  and  l>y 
Monseigneur  Dumirail.  A  copy  of  this  edition,  j)urchased  in 
the  shop  of  G.  Klostermunn,  St.  Petersburg,  is  in  the  library  of 
tlie  Religious  Tract  Society,  with  this  inscription  on  the  cover: 
"  Til  is  book  was  picked  up  by  Lord  Tyrconnel  (wlio  was  at  the 

•    I^  Voyage  du  Chrtfirii  vtrt  L' Etrniilr.     I'lir  Jian  IJimian,  Miiiistrc  dii  Saint 
Kvangile.     Traduit  de  rAugloin.     AKottcrdum:  Cht-z  Abraham  Acher,  17'JS. 

II  II  'J 


468  JORN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xix. 

time  on  a  political  mission  to  Russia)  on  the  field  of  battle, 
after  the  Battle  of  Borodino."  Yet  another  French  edition, 
published  at  Tours  in  1852,  is  inscribed  with  the  approbation 
of  "  Genet,  docteur  de  la  maison  et  Societe  de  Sorbonne," 
which  is  dated,  Paris,  16  Juillet,  1772,  and  in  which  it  is  said : 
"  Get  ouvrage  est  orthodoxe,  et  anime  de  I'esprit  Evangelique." 
Bunyan's  book  thus  endorsed  by  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  with 
Giant  Pope  left  out  and  prayers  bound  up  at  the  end  (with 
continuous  pagination)  to  be  said  before  the  Holy  Mass,  and 
after  the  Holy  Mass,  together  with  Anthems  to  the  Holy  Virgin, 
would  have  astonished  the  Protestant  soul  of  the  Bedfordshire 
Tinker,  could  he  have  seen  it.  Another  French  edition  was 
also  published  at  Epernay,  Lj^ons,  and  Paris,  by  the  Society  of 
St.  Victor,  in  1847,  having  the  approbation  of  the  Bishop  of 
Chalons,  who  says  that  he  has  examined  the  book,  and  thinks 
it  will  offer  to  all  "una  lecture  agr cable  et  utile."  Yet  other 
French  issues  have  been  published  at  Paris,  Pouen,  Valence, 
Plancy,  and  Basle. 

The  German  version  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress"  was  first 
translated,  not  from  the  English,  but  from  the  Dutch.  Dr.  F. 
H.  Panke  tells  us  that  as  a  young  man  at  Niirnberg,  he 
first  met  with  a  German  copy  on  a  stall  where  old  Christian 
writings  were  offered  for  sale  along  with  old  iron,  and  just  as 
cheaply.  It  was  a  translation  of  1703,  from  Dutch  into 
German,  and  though  the  language  was  so  antiquated  that  he 
had  at  times  almost  to  guess  the  meaning,  yet,  as  he  says,  the 
Dream  made  such  an  impression  on  his  mind,  that  in  after 
years  he  formed  classes  of  young  men  for  the  study  of  the  book, 
and  also,  in  1832,  issued  a  new  edition  himself  in  an  abridged 
form.*  Many  other  German  editions  followed  that  first  rude 
translation  of  1703,  and  the  book  worked  itself  into  the  German 
mind.  Dr.  Gustav  Kettner  suggests  that  in  two  of  Schiller's 
poems,  "  Der  Pilgrim  "  and  "  Die  Sehnsucht,"  Bunyan's  influ- 
ence is  distinctly  traceable.  The  first  of  these  especially  stands, 
he  thinks,  among  the  rest  of  Schiller's  works  as  a  strangeling, 
expressing  not  in  name  only,  but  in  conception  and  longing 

*  Lea  Christen  Wallfuhrt  nach  chr  himmllnchen  StacU.  Nach  dcm  Englischen 
dc8  John  Bunyan,  von  Dr.  Friedrich  Hoiiirich  Kanke,  Consistoriakath  zu 
Ansbach.  Mit  einer  Eiuleitung  von  Dr.  Gotthelf  Heinrich  von  Schubeit, 
Geheimerath  in  MiincheD.     Erlangcn,  1845. 


EDITIOXS,  ETC.,  OF  "PILGIiDrS  PJiOGIiESSr     409 

the  idea  of  Bunyan's  Dream.  The  hook  was,  we  know,  earl;y 
received  into  the  pietistic  circles  of  Germany.  Jung-Stilling, 
in  his  "  Schliissel  zum  Heimweh,"*  in  which  he  has  attempted 
a  hroad,  artistic,  but  unimpassioned  imitation  of  Bunyan's  work, 
tells  us  how,  in  1748,  when  in  his  eighth  year,  he  had  read 
with  inexpressible  pleasure  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."  Other 
German  minds  also,  were  greatly  influenced  by  it.  Crahb 
Robinson  tells  us  that  when  dining  with  the  Grand  Duchess, 
at  Weimar,  in  1805,  he  there  met  with  the  poet  "NVieland,  who 
was  born  earlier  in  the  18th  century  than  Schiller.  Wieland 
was  very  communicative  ;  he  spoke  of  English  literature,  to 
which  he  confessed  great  obligations,  and  when  Robinson  men- 
tioned that  the  first  book  he  recollected  having  read  was  the 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  "  That  delights  me,"  said  Wieland, 
"  for  in  that  book  I  learned  to  read  English.  English  literature 
had  a  great  influence  on  me,  and  your  Puritan  writings  par- 
ticularlv."  t  It  is  not  improbable,  therefore,  that  Schiller,  who 
as  a  boy  at  Ludwigsberg  and  later,  read  many  pietistic  works, 
may  have  met  with  Bunyan's  "Dream,"  and  that  Dr.  Kettner 
is  rijrht  in  thinking:  he  sees  traces  of  its  influence  in  the 
Pilgrim  thought  and  ideal  longing  expressed  in  "Der  Pilgrim  " 
and  "  Die  Sehnsucht."  + 

These  three  in  the  Dutch,  French,  and  German  languages 
were  the  earliest  versions,  though  not  the  only  ones.  Though 
subsequently  lost,  it  would  seem  as  if,  even  in  Bunyan's  lifetime, 
there  were  versions  also  in  Gaelic  and  native  Irish.  After 
speaking  of  those  in  use  in  France,  Flanders,  and  Holland, 
he  says — 

"Highlanders and  wild  Irish  can  aproo 
My  rUtjrim  should  fumiliur  with  tlicm  bo." 

Welsh  versions  were  published  in  London,  in  1GS8,  and  in 
Shrewsbury,  in  1G90,  a  Swedish  version  at  Gothebcrg,  in  1743, 
and  a  Polish,  in  1728.  All  the  rest  came  later,  and  were 
liorn  out  of  the  missionary  movement  of  the  nineteenth  ccn- 
turv.     TIk,'   earliest  of  these   later  ones,    which    was  also   iho 

•  Jung-StilliiiffH  Humtlicho  Wirkc.  v.  310.     Stuttgart,  1811. 
t  Diary  of  llrnry  (Jrabb  Itobinnou,  i.  113.     Third  Kdition. 

*  Zeiturhrijt  fur  iJeuttclie  rhilolotjie.  Zu  .SLhill<r-  CUM..!.  Hill.',  iss:,. 
pp    103—115. 


4T0  JOEN  BTJNYAN.  [chap.  xix. 

most  affecting  in  its  history,  was  that  prepared  for  the  native 
Christians  of  Madagascar  by  the  Rev.  D.  Johns,  one  of  the 
first  missionaries  who  carried  the  Gospel  to  that  island.  This 
version  is  said  to  be  strongly  idiomatic,  and  in  literary  quality 
to  stand  deservedly  high.  The  Allegory  itself  was  a  great  solace 
to  these  native  Christians  during  the  long  and  terrible  night  of 
persecution  by  which  their  faith  was  tried.  It  was  printed  on 
paper  the  same  size  as  that  of  their  New  Testaments,  and  was 
often  bound  up  with  them,  as  the  "  Shepherd  of  Hermas  "  was 
with  the  canonical  Scriptures  of  the  Early  Christians. 

The  book  which  thus  so  soon  and  so  truly  made  a  home  for 
itself  in  one  mission  field,  gradually  spread,  and  is  spreading 
to  others.     It  has  been  translated  into  between  seventy  and 
eighty  languages  and  dialects.      Besides  the  versions  already 
mentioned,   it  is  found  in  Northern  Europe  :  in  Danish,  Ice- 
landic, Norwegian,  Lithuanian,   Finnish,   Lettish,  Esthonian, 
and  Russ;  in  Eastern  Europe:  in  Servian,  Bulgarian,  Bohemian, 
Hungarian,  and  Polish ;  and  in  Southern  Europe  :  in  French, 
Italian,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  and  Romaic   or  modern  Greek. 
In  Asia,  it  may  be  met  with  in  Hebrew,  Arabic,  Modern  Syria c, 
Armeno-Turkish,  Greco-Turkish,  and  Armenian.     Farther  to 
the  South  also,   it  is  seen  in  Pashtu  or  Afghani,  and  in  the 
great   Empire  of  India  it  is  found  in  various  forms.      It  has 
been  translated   into   Hindustani  or  Urdu,  Bengali,  Uriya  or 
Orissa,  Hindi,    Sindhi,   Panjabi   or   Sikh,    Telugu,    Canarese, 
Tamil,  Malay alim,  Marathi-Balbodh,  Gujarati,  and  Singhalese. 
In  Indo-Chinese  countries  there  are  versions  of  it  in  Assamese, 
Xhasi,  Burmese,  and  Sgau-Karen.     It   has  been  given  to  the 
Dyaks    of   Borneo,  to   the  Malays,  to  the   Malagasy,    to   the 
Japanese,  and  to  the  many-millioned  people  of  China  in  vari- 
ous   dialects   both   classical   and   colloquial.       It    has    found 
its  way  into   Western  Africa  in  Efik,  Othshi  or  Ashanti,  Ot- 
yiherero,  Yoruba,  and  Dualla  ;   and  in  the  southern  regions  of 
that  great  continent,  in  Kafiir,  Sechuana,  and  Sesuto.    Among 
the  Pacific  Islands,  it  has    been  translated   into  Raratongan, 
Tahitian,  Maori,  Fijian,  Hawaiian,  and  Aneityumese.     And, 
finally,   in   our   attempt  to  girdle  the  earth  with  the  Pilgrim 
story,  passing  to  the  American  continent  we  find  it  printed 
recently  in  a  new  form  among  the  Mexicans  of  the  South,  and 


£I)TTIOXS.  Etc.,  OF  "PILGRIJTS  PP^OGRESS:'     471 

given  to  the  Cree  Indians,  and  to  those  also  of  Dakota  in  the 
North. 

In  some  cases  the  people  have  themselves  taken  active  part 
in  the  production  of  the  versions  referred  to.  The  Kaflir 
copy  in  my  possession  was  translated  by  Tiyo  Soga,  a  native  of 
Kaffirland,  who  was  educated  in  Scotland,  in  connection  with 
the  Free  Church  Mission  ;  and  as  far  as  the  manual  work  was 
concerned,  it  was  neatly  printed  and  bound  by  Ivallir  lads  in 
the  Lovedale  ^lission  Seminary.  The  Ashanti  version  also, 
printed  in  1885,  is  simply  the  revision  by  Mr.  Christaller  of 
the  Basle  Missionary  Society,  of  a  translation  made  many  years 
ago  by  two  natives  of  Akropong.  It  is  interesting  also  to 
notice  that  the  Chinese  version,  in  the  Canton  vernacular, 
sent  forth  by  the  Rev.  G.  Piercy  of  the  Wesleyan  Mission,  is 
illustrated  by  a  series  of  pictures  both  drawn  and  engraved  by 
Chinese  artists.  In  these,  Christian  appears  in  Chinese  costume, 
the  House  Beautiful  as  a  Chinese  pagoda,  and  all  the  scenes 
and  incidents  in  a  garb  familiar  to  the  people  for  whom  the 
book  is  intended.  Before  leaving  the  subject  of  these  versions, 
it  should  be  noticed  that  this  book  of  Bunyan's,  which  has 
contributed  so  largely  to  the  sacred  cause  of  Christian  unity, 
is  in  its  very  production  a  manifestation  of  the  spirit  to  which 
it  has  contributed.  It  is  pleasant  to  find  that  it  has  been 
translated  and  published  under  the  auspices  of  missionaries 
connected  with  the  Church,  London,  Baptist,  "NVesleyan,  Free 
Church,  and  United  Presbyterian  Missionary  Societies  ;  also  of 
those  sent  forth  by  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
the  German  Mission,  and  the  Basle  Missionary  Society.  It  has 
also  been  printed  in  India  by  the  Christian  Knowledge  Society 
and  by  the  Pan  jab  Religious  Book  Society  of  Lahore. 

Apart  from  the  religious  influence  exerted  by  the  "  Pilgrim," 
tlie  bodk  has  become  u  classic  in  the  general  literature  of  many 
of  tlie  peoples  to  whom  it  has  been  given.  Mr.  IVi.rce  of 
Canton  says  tliat  not  only  is  the  copy  in  the  Canton  Vernacular 
regarded  by  liis  committee  as  one  of  the  best  books  in  tlnir 
depository,  a  favourite  work  with  the  native  preachers,  and 
read  in  Christian  families,  but  it  is  also  taught  in  tli(5  nati\e 
schools,  and  he  has  seen,  lie  says,  Chinese  who  kni'W  or  carrd 
little  for   Cbristianity  poring  over  tlic  "  i'ilgrim's  I'rogress  " 


1Y2  JOHN  BUN Y AN.  [chap.  xix. 

witli  interest  and  deliglit.*  A  Syrian  gentleman,  also  (Antonius 
Araeuny),  writing  to  an  English  lady  concerning  the  Arabic 
version  of  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  says :  "The  book  has  now 
become  a  classical  one.  It  is  read  in  all  the  American  schools 
throughout  Syria.  Copies  of  it  have  gone  into  Arabia,  Meso- 
potamia, India,  Egypt,  and  the  Coast  of  Barbary."  A  monk 
at  Beirut,  as  he  called  upon  him  in  his  cell,  said  :  "  I  read  this 
book  during  the  long  winter  evenings,  and  feel  quite  delighted 
to  think  that  your  Protestant  friends  have  at  least  one  good  hook 
to  offer  VIS."  He  climbed  up  into  the  bower  of  one  of  the 
watchmen  over  the  vineyards,  during  the  season  of  grapes,  and 
found  among  other  Arabic  books  a  well-used  copy  of  the  "  Pil- 
grim's Progress."  Explaining  why  the  book  was  so  well  used, 
the  man  Nicola  said  :  "  Such  a  book  was  never  made  for  you 
men  who  live  in  cities,  who  are  ambitious,  rich,  and  luxurious  ; 
but  I  who  live  in  this  tree  for  three  months  in  the  year — I  see 
the  sun  rise  in  majesty  in  the  morning,  and  go  down  in 
power  in  the  evening ;  I  see  the  moon  appear  in  glory,  and  set 
in  splendour — with  ante-Lebanon  for  my  habitation — and 
Lebanon,  Hermon,  and  lulan  around  me — I  have  need  of  such 
a  book  ;  I  can  understand  it."  f 

Passing  now  from  Editions,  Versions,  and  Illustrations,  we 
come  next  to  Imitations  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."  This 
brings  us  at  once  to  the  consideration  of  the  spurious  Third 
Part  which  continued  to  be  sold  till  quite  recent  times  along 
with  the  First  and  Second.  It  made  its  appearance  in  1693, 
and  although  the  title-page  does  not  directly  say  it  was  written 
by  Bujiyan,  the  book  virtually  claimed  to  be  ;  for  it  was  de- 
scribed as  "  The  Third  Part,  to  which  is  added  The  Life  and 
Death  of  John  Bunyan,  Author  of  the  First  and  Second  Part ; 
thus  compleating  the  whole  Progress ;  "  the  preface  also  was 
signed  J.  B.,  and  the  book  itself  begins  with  these  words  : 
"  After  the  two  former  Dreams  concerning  Christian  and 
Christiana  his  wife.  ...  I  fell  asleep  again,  and  the  Visions 
of  my  Head  returned  upon  me:  I  dreamed  another  Dream,  &c." 
It  was  a  piece  of  sharjD  practice  in  which  we  find  once  more 
implicated  our  old  friend  J.   Blare,  of  the  Looking-glass  on 

*  Letter  to  the  author  from  Rev.  J.  "W.  Pearce,  Canton,  June,  1883. 
t  Appendix  to  Le  PcUrinage  de  I'homme,  p.  Ixii.  et  scq. 


1G92.]  EDiTioxs,  ETC.,  oF-riLonnrs  rnoGRESsr  47.? 

London  Bridge.  The  public  were  the  more  readily  deceived 
because  Bunyan  had  himself  given  a  sort  of  half-promise  of  a 
Third  Part.  The  concluding  words  of  the  Second  Part,  it  will 
be  remembered,  are  tbese :  "Shall  it  be  my  lot  to  go  that  way 
again,  I  may  give  those  that  desire  it,  an  account  of  what  I 
here  am  silent  about ;  meantime  I  bid  my  Reader  Farewell." 
Indeed,  if  his  publisher  may  be  trusted,  Bunyan  had  got  the 
work  under  way  before  his  death.  lie  says  :  "  The  Third  Part 
now  abroad  was  not  done  hy  Bunyan.  But  the  true  copy  left 
by  him  will  be  published  by  Nat.  Ponder."  This  definite  state- 
ment was  somewhat  modified  shortlv  after.  On  the  reverse  of  the 
title  of  the  thirteenth  edition  of  the  First  Part,  1693,  there  is 
this  advertisement :  "  The  Pilgrim's  Progress  :  The  Third  Part: 
in  a  Dream,  Printed  in  1G92,  is  an  Impostor  thrust  into  the 
world  by  a  nameless  author,  and  would  insinuate  to  the  Buyers 
that  'tis  Buuyan's,  by  adding  a  false  Account  of  his  Life  and 
Death,  not  compleating  the  work  as  is  said,  &c.  The  Skeleton 
of  his  Design  and  the  main  of  his  I5ook  Done  by  him  as  a 
Third  Part  remains  with  Nath.  Ponder  ;  which  when  convenient 
time  serves  shall  be  Published."  If  there  really  were  anything 
like  a  Third  Part  written  by  Bunyan,  it  seems  never  to  have 
seen  the  light,  and  the  spurious  pretender  held  on  its  way, 
having  a  considerable  sale.  It  was  dishonest  in  its  claim  to 
authorsliip  and  was  evidentl}'  intended  in  an  unworthy  way  to 
trade  upon  Bunyan's  reputation  ;  otherwise  it  was  not  without 
a  certain  amount  of  interest  and  literary  power.*  It  sets  forth 
the  adventures  of  a  pilgrim  named  Tender  Conscience,  going 
over  much  of  the  ground  Bunyan  had  gone  over  before. 

This  Third  I'art  was  followed  by  many  other  imitations. 
Some  of  these  were  put  forth  for  sectarian  purposes,  and  wo 
have  "  The  Pilgrim's  Progress  from  (Quakerism  to  Christianity," 
and  "  From  Methodism  to  (Jhristianity."  About  1(J85  there 
was  a  burlesque  allegory,  entitled  "  A  Hue  and  Cry  after 
Conscience,  or  tlie  i'iigrim's  Progress  by  Candle-light."  Somt* 
were   made    the    vehicles    of   political    satire,    instruction,    or 

•  A  Mrikini?  nxtnict  from  this  book  rulatinj?  to  our  "endowment  with  different 
fnruIti.H  HuiUil)le  «iid  i)roj)orlioniil  to  the  different  ol)jeetM  tlmt  eiij^'m^e  tliem,"  is 
prefixed  by  ProfeH**rM  Stiiwurt  and  Tuit  to  lluir  joint  work  entithd.  The  Ciffii 
Unireru.     Macmillnn  k  Co.,  1H70. 


474  JOEN  BUXYAN.  [chap.  xix. 

warning.  "  The  Statesman's  Progress,  or  a  Pilgrimage  to 
Greatness,"  was  aimed  at  Sir  Robert  Walpole  and  his  mode  of 
corrupting  Parliament  by  bribes.  Under  the  name  of  Badman, 
Walpole  is  represented  as  going  to  Greatness  Hall,  where  grew 
the  Golden  Pippins,  by  aid  of  which  he  exercises  absolute 
sway.  At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  the  sister  of 
Sir  James  Bland  Burgess  wrote  a  book  of  warning  against  those 
principles  of  Peform  of  which,  in  the  days  following  upon  the 
French  Revolution,  conservative  people  were  so  timidly  afraid. 
This  work  was  entitled,  "  Progress  of  the  Pilgrim  Good-Intent 
in  Jacobinical  Times."  It  went  through  several  editions,  being 
thought  a  good  and  safe  book  for  parish  libraries.  On  the 
other  side,  in  favour  of  Reform,  we  have  "  The  Political  Pil- 
grim's Progress,"*  in  which  a  Pilgrim  sets  out  from  the  City  of 
Plunder,  with  a  heavy  burden  on  his  back  labelled  "  Taxes." 
He  is  bent  on  finding  the  City  of  Reform,  and  his  going  forth 
on  pilgrimage  thither  makes  great  talk  among  his  neighbours  ; 
some  of  them  maintaining  that  there  is  no  such  place  as  Reform, 
others  saying  there  is,  but  that  it  is  a  long  way  off,  and  the  way 
thither  is  perilous.  As  he  goes  he  meets  with  Worldly  Wise- 
man, who  reproves  him  for  being  discontented,  telling  him  that 
all  people  cannot  be  rich ;  others  try  to  persuade  him  that  his 
load  is  a  great  benefit  to  him  and  that  he  would  be  uneasy 
without  it.  In  the  course  of  his  travels  two  men,  named 
Temporary  and  Expediency,  try  to  mislead  him  by  short  cuts  ; 
he  has  a  life  and  death  grapple  with  the  Apollyon  of  Political 
Corruption  ;  and  he  passes  through  Vanity  Fair,  where  pen- 
sions, places,  and  decorations  are  oifered  for  the  purpose  of 
keeping  up  the  existing  system.  Eventually,  after  many  a 
shrewd  brush  and  stern  experience,  he  reaches  the  City  of 
Reform,  the  place  of  his  desire,  where  Taxes  are  all  but  un- 
known and  every  man  breathes  the  air  of  freedom. 

There  have  been  other  imitations,  such  as  "  The  Drunkard's 
Progress  from  Drouth  to  the  Dead  Sea,"  by  John  Bunyan, 
Junr.  (1853)  ;  "  The  Pilgrim's  Progress  from  the  Town  of 
Deceit  to  the  Kingdom  of  Glory  "  (1790);  Iter  Coeleste;  "  The 
Sailor  Pilgrim"  (1806);  "  Zion's  Pilgrim,"  (1808);  "The 
Infant's  Progress,"  by  Mrs.  Sherwood  (1823)  ;  "  The  Travels 
of  Hum&nitas  in  Search  of  the  Temple  of  Haj^piness  "  (1809)  ; 
*  Newcastle  upon-Tyne:  OflBce  of  the  Liberator,  1839. 


EDITIOXS.  Etc.,  OF  -riLGniWS  PROGRESS:'     475 

and  Benjamin  Keach's  "Travels  of  True  Godliness  "  (1684)  ; 
"A  New  Pilgrimage  to  the  New  Jerusalem,"  by  W.  Shrubsole, 
is  meant  to  be,  under  assumed  names,  a  description  of  the  state 
of  religion  in  England  in  the  times  of  Whittii'ld  and  "Wesley. 
Similar  in  purpose  and  with  special  doctrinal  intent,  we  have 
"  The  Female  Pilgrim,  or  the  Travels  of  Ilophzibah ; " 
"  Pilgrims  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  ;  a  continuation  of  the 
Pilgrim's  Progress,"  by  Joseph  Ivimey  (1827)  :  "  ^Magda- 
lena's  Voyages  and  Travels  through  the  Kingdom  of  this 
World  into  the  Kingdom  of  Grace,"  a  work  illustrated  by  three 
curious  symbolical  maps  ;  and  "  The  Pilgrimage  of  Theophilus 
to  the  City  of  God."  There  have  also  been  several  other  works 
of  a  similar  kind,  but  they  were,  for  the  most  part,  the  outcome 
of  the  dullest  mediocrity,  and  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  lift 
them  again  into  the  light. 

Two  later  works  of  more  ability  and  opposite  character  are 
"  The  Sojourn  of  a  Sceptic  in  the  Land  of  Darkness  and  Un- 
certainty, between  the  Land  of  Original  Impressions  and  the 
City  of  Strongholds  in  the  Kingdom  of  Light ;  "  *  and  "  An 
Agnostic's  Progress  from  the  Known  to  the  Unknown."  t  In 
a  travesty  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  under  the  title  of  *'  The 
Celestial  Railroad,"  X  Nathaniel  Hawthorne,  some  years  ago, 
satirised  what  he  thought  the  softer  fibre  of  the  religious  life 
of  our  times,  as  contrasted  with  the  days  of  liunyan.  lie 
found,  on  visiting  the  City  of  Destruction,  in  a  dream, 
that  there  was  now  a  railroad  between  that  place  and  the 
Celestial  City,  so  that  a  pilgrim's  progress  was  by  no  means 
the  stern  experience  it  used  to  be.  The  Slough  of  Despond 
was  converted  into  firm  ground ;  there  was  no  need  of  any 
stopping-place  at  the  House  of  the  Interpreter;  the  Hill 
Difficulty  had  been  tunnelled  through  and  the  Valley  of 
Humiliation  levelled  up.  lietwecn  the  townsmen  of  Vanity  lair 
and  the  pilgrims,  too,  there  was  now  a  very  good  understanil- 
ing  and  considerable  traffic.  The  silver  mine  of  Demas  also 
was  worked  by  them  to  great  advantage,  and  Doubting  Castle 
was  quite  Jh  airy-looking  edifice,  built  in  the  mostmodern  style. 
There  was  even  a  steam  ferry-b<nit  over  the  bridgeless  river, 

•  IJy  IVter  Hfiti.-Iy  Wnddi-P,  Girviin.     Lanch.n  :   II.  K.  Litwiii,  1817. 

t   L'iridon:   WilliumH  and  Nor>futi-,  1884. 

X   Momien  from  an  old  Mante,     iJy  Nathunicl  lliiwUiortio. 


4'76  JOHN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xix. 

to  which,  however,  there  was  this  one  drawback,  that  no  one 
knew  whether  it  ever  reached  the  city  ou  the  other  side  or  not. 
For  at  this  point  the  Dreamer  awoke  and  had,  therefore,  no 
more  to  relate. 

Besides  imitations  and  burlesques  of  the  "Pilgrim'sProgress," 
there  have  also  been  numerous  abridgments,  John  Wesley 
publishing  one  in  1774 ;  and  there  were  several  editions  that 
were  supposed  to  be  amended  and  improved.  We  naturally 
expect  that  Eoman  Catholics  would  leave  out  Giant  Pope 
from  the  version  authorised  by  them,  but  it  does  seem  a  little 
superfluous  to  put  forth  an  edition  for  the  purpose  of  improv- 
ing the  Enghsh  of  the  book.  An  excellent  but  mistaken 
clergyman,  Joshua  Gilpin,  vicar  of  Wrockwardine,  published 
at  Wellington,  in  1811,  what  he  calls  "  a  new  and  corrected 
edition,  in  which  the  i^hraseology  of  the  author  is  somewhat 
improved,  some  of  his  obscurities  elucidated,  and  some  of  his 
redundancies  done  away."  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  book 
was  not  so  much  improved  as  weakened,  and  that  it  remains  an 
illustration  of  the  degenerate  taste  of  even  educated  people  in 
the  days  in  which  it  saw  the  light.  This  work  of  the  good 
vicar  of  Wrockwardine,  who  with  all  his  heart  believed  the 
truths  that  Bunyan  believed,  was  harmless  and  well  meant, 
however,  when  compared  with  the  audacious  treatment  the 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  received  later  at  the  hands  of  another 
clergyman  of  the  English  Church,  the  Eev.  J.  M.  Neale, 
warden  of  Sackville  College.*  This  gentleman  coolly  set 
about  making  Bunyan  say  what  he  believes  Bunyan  would  have 
said  if  only  he  had  been  as  enlightened  as  he  ought  to  have  been. 
"  The  Editor,"  he  says,  "cannot  be  called  dishonest  for  making 
his  author  speak  what  he  believes,  that  with  more  knowledge, 
that  author  would  have  said."  In  pursuance  of  this  piece  of 
Jesuitry,  he  introduces  baptism  as  the  means  of  spiritual  life ; 
placing  a  well  in  the  garden  at  the  Wicket  Gate,  into  which 
Christian  dips  himself  three  times,  "  the  which  when  he  had 
done,  he  was  changed  into  another  man,  moreover  " — here  at 
the  baptismal  well,  not  at  the  cross  as  Bunyan  has  it — "his 
burden  fell  from  his  back."  There  are  other  changes  besides : 
Giant  Pope  is  turned  into  Giant  Mahometan  ;  Worldly  Wise- 

*  The  Pilgrim! s  Progress  of  John  Bunyan,  for  the  Use  of  Children  in  the  English 
Church.  Edited  by  the  Eev.  J.  M.  Neale,  M.A.,  Warden  of  Sackville  College. 
Oxford.    J.  H.  Parker,  1853. 


EBITIOXS,  ETC.,  OF  '^FILGHnrS  PFOGIiFSS:'      477 

man  and  Legality  are  left  out ;  the  scene  in  the  House  Beautiful 
is  turned  into  the  ceremony  of  Confirmation  and  of  first  Com- 
munion ;  and  the  dusty  room  in  the  House  of  Interpreter  is 
made  the  symbol  of  the  heart  of  a  man  who  was  never  regene- 
rated by  baptism.  The  statement  of  the  changes  thus  made  in 
another  man's  book  is  the  most  efiective  indictment  of  the  man 
who  made  them.  This  attempt  to  foist  upon  an  author  opinions 
directly  contrary  to  those  he  was  known  to  hold,  caused  some 
stir,  and  called  forth,  among  others,  a  remonstrance  with  the 
title  of  "The  Pilgrim  :  or  John  Bunyan's  Apparition  in  the 
Bedroom  of  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Neale."  There  have  been  other 
editions  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress  "  of  a  more  reputable  sort 
for  children  and  young  people,  Isaac  Taylor,  of  Ongur,  leading 
the  way  as  early  as  1825,  with  his  "  Bunyan  explained  to  a 
a  Cliild,"  illustrated  with  a  hundred  engravings.  We  have 
"  The  Child's  Bunyan,"  "  The  Pilgrim's  Progress  in  words  of 
One  Syllable,"  "The  Pilgrim  Children,"  and  picture-cards 
and  toybook.s,  with  coloured  plates  illustrative  of  the  work. 
There  have  also  been,  what  seem  quite  unnecessary,  many 
poetical  versions  of  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress."  The  Dream  is  a 
poem  as  it  is,  and  for  such  a  book  to  be  "  metrically  con- 
densed "  into  cantos,  to  be  "  rendered  into  blank  verse,"  or  "into 
familiar  verse,"  "converted  into  an  epic,"  or  "done  intover8e,"is 
to  be  dragged  down  from  sublimity  into  mediocrity  or  even  lower. 

Finally,  besides  thus  coming  out  in  versions  innumerable, 
poetical  and  otherwise,  the  "  Pilgrim  "  has  once  at  least  taken 
dramatic  form,  after  the  manner  of  the  old  mediicval  mystery 
plays.  In  June,  1877,  the  poet  and  novelist,  George  Mac- 
doiiald,  assisted  by  his  family,  gave  on  behalf  of  a  National 
Orphan  Fund,  and  before  the  Princess  Louise,  a  series  of  illus- 
trative scenes  from  the  Second  Part  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  I'rogress," 
which  were  very  successfully  rendered. 

It  has  sometimes  been  thought  that  Bunyan's  cordial  recep- 
tion by  the  great  arbiters  of  literature  is  of  comparatively 
recent  date ;  that,  as  Macaulay  puts  it :  "  Tlu;  '  Pilgrim's  Pro- 
gress *  is,  perhaps,  the  only  book  about  which,  after  the  lapso 
of  a  hundred  years,  the  educated  minoiity  has  come  over  to  the 
opinion  of  the  common  people."  Cowper's  lines  about  ISunyun — 

'•  I  nuiiH!  Uii  0  not  U'ni  n»  d<H|iin((l  a  iiiiiiiu 
Should  move  u  Hinrer  nt  thy  dfHorvc-d  fumi.',"' 

have  contributed  not  a  littb-   fo   tliis  imprcHwion.     But  by  u 


478  JOHN  BJJNYAN.  [chap.  xix. 

fair  amount  of  evidence  on  the  other  side,  a  recent  writer 
has  shown  that  we  must  not  follow  Cowper  too  implicitly 
in  this  matter.*  There  were  no  doubt  writers  like  Cox 
who,  in  his  account  of  Bedfordshire,  complained  that  Bun- 
yan's  books  were  "  too  frequently  met  with  in  the  hands  of 
the  common  people,"  and  others,  later,  who  thought  the  Pil- 
grim "jejune  " — that  was  the  word  in  those  days.  It  is  true 
also  that  Dr.  Young  compared  Bunyan's  prose  with  the  poetry 
of  the  wretched  D'Urfey  ;  that  Addison  said  disparagingly,  that 
he  never  knew  an  author  that  had  not  his  admirers,  for  Bun- 
yan  and  Quarles  pleased  as  many  readers  as  Dryden  and  Til- 
iotson;  and  that  Mrs.  Montagu,  after  her  manner,  follow- 
ing in  the  wake  of  Addison,  called  Bunyan  and  Quarles, 
"those  classics  of  the  artificers  in  leather,"  laughing  at  them 
as  "  forming  the  particular  entertainment  of  her  neighbours, 
the  Kentish  squires."  But  it  is  also  true  that  there  is  on  the 
other  side  the  great  authority  of  Dr.  Johnson  himself,  who  said 
that  Bunyan's  book  was  one  of  the  three  which  all  their  readers 
wished  had  been  longer.  Madame  Piozzi  also,  writing  four  or 
five  years  later  than  Cowper,  classes  Bunyan  with  Correggio, 
and  asks,  "  Who  shall  dare  say  that  Lillo,  Bunyan,  and  Antonio 
Correggio  were  not  naturally  equal  to  Johnson,  Michael  Angelo, 
and  the  Archbishop  of  Cambrai  ?  "  Horace  Walpole,  no  mean 
authority  in  literary  taste,  evidently  thinks  he  is  paying 
Edmund  Spenser  a  compliment  when  he  speaks  of  him  as  "John 
Bunyan  in  rhyme."  Hearne,  the  antiquary,  tells  us  how  his 
friend,  Bagford,  went  down  into  the  country  to  see  Bunyan  for 
himself.  Writers  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  (1741  and  1765), 
ventured  to  say  that,  "there  never  was  an  allegory  better 
designed  or  better  supported,"  that  "  the  '  Pilgrim's  Progress  ' 
is  a  work  of  original  and  uncommon  genius  ;  "  and  even  Dean 
Swift,  says,  "  I  have  been  better  entertained  and  more  informed 
by  a  few  pages  in  the  *  Pilgrim's  Progress '  than  by  a  long  dis- 
cussion upon  the  will  and  the  intellect,  and  simple  or  complex 
ideas." 

It  will  be  seen  that  Professor  De   Morgan,  in  saying  "  all 
honour    to    Granger"    for  this,    was   mistaken    in  supposing 
that  he  was  the  first   man  of  literary  standing  who  spoke  of 
*  Saturday  Review,  August,  1880. 


1874.:    EDITIOXS,  Etc.,  OF  ''PILGErJTS  PROGIiESS."  479 

Bunyan  appreciatively  ;  but  Granger  also  said  that  the  "  Pil- 
grim's Progress  "  is  "one  of  the  most  popular  and,  I  may  add, 
one  of  the  most  ingenious  books  in  the  Enfflish  lan^uao-e:" 
backing  up  this  opinion  of  his  by  that  of  his  friend  Merrick, 
who  thought  Bunyan  had  not  a  little  of  Homer's  power,  and  bv 
that  of  a  similar  opinion  held  by  Dr.  Roberts,  a  Fellow  of  Eton 
College.  This  is  a  considerable  consensus  of  opinion  on  the 
part  of  the  intellectual  world  of  last  century,  and  it  was  sus- 
tained, as  we  have  seen,  by  the  two  weighty  names  of  Wieland 
and  Schiller.  Doubtless,  there  were  in  those  days  learned  men 
ignorant  of  Bunyan's  intellectual  claims  ;  but  so  there  have 
been  since  Macaulay  said  that  the  educated  minority  has,  on 
this  question,  come  over  to  the  opinion  of  the  common  people. 
Thackera}'  used  to  tell,  as  only  he  could,  how  he  once  went 
down  to  Oxford,  to  give  his  lectures  on  the  English  Humourists, 
and,  in  order  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  attendance  of  the 
undergraduates,  waited  on  the  Heads  of  Colleges.  Among 
others  upon  whom  he  called  was  Dr.  lUumptre,  Master  of  Uni- 
versity, who  it  seems  had  not  heard  of  the  great  novelist,  and 
therefore  asked  him  who  he  was  and  what  he  had  written  Y 
By  way  of  furnishing  his  credentials,  Thackeray  modestly 
intimated  that  he  was  the  author  of  "  Vanity  Fair."  Upon  this, 
the  Master  at  oncG  turned  round  upon  him  suspiciously  with  the 
remark  that  there  must  be  some  mistake  somewhere,  for  that 
John  Bunyan  was  the  author  of  "Vanity  Fair!"  Finding 
afterwards  that  people  were  laughing,  Plumptre  explained  tn 
a  friend,  from  whom  I  had  the  story,  that  he  had  not  read 
Bunyan's  book,  "  never  being  a  reader  of  novels." 

Over  against  this  story  of  the  Oxford  don  we  must,  however, 
set  the  fact  that  Bunyan  has  nevertheless  been  duly  honoured 
from  the  chair  of  the  professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  that 
university  to  which  IMumptre  belonged.  In  his  Address  at 
the  Bunyan  Celebration,  in  Bodfonl.  in  IS?  I.  Dean  Stanley 
said  : 

•'  When  (if  I  may  for  a  nionu'iit  sjnak  ul  myself)  in  early  yuutli 
I  li^Iited  (ill  the  passage  wliere  the  I'ilgrini  is  taken  t<»  the  House 
JJ<!autiful  to  800  '  tho  pedigree  of  the  Ancient  of  Days,  and  tlie 
rarities  un<I  historios  of  that  phice,  l»oth  ancient  ami  modern,'  I 
dutorminud  that  if  ever  thu  time  should  urrivu  w  hen  I  hIiouM  become 


4S0  JORN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xix. 

a  professor  of  ecclesiastical  history,  these  should  be  the  opening  words 
in  which  I  would  describe  the  treasures  of  that  magnificent  store- 
house. Accordingly  when,  many  years  after,  it  so  fell  out,  I  could 
find  no  better  mode  of  beginning  my  course  at  Oxford  than  by  re- 
deeming that  early  pledge  ;  and  when  the  course  came  to  an  end, 
and  I  wished  to  draw  a  picture  of  the  prospects  yet  reserved  for  the 
future  of  Christendom,  I  found  again  that  the  best  words  I  could 
supply  were  those  in  which,  on  leaving  the  Beautiful  House,  Chris- 
tian was  shown  in  the  distance  the  view  of  the  Delectable  Mountains, 
'  which,  they  said,  would  add  to  his  comfort  because  they  were 
nearer  to  the  desired  haven.'  " 

These  words  of  Dean  Stanley's  were  spoken  on  the  memorable 
occasion  when  the  statue  of  Bunyan,  executed  by  J.  E.  Boehm 
and  presented  by  the  Duke  of  Bedford  to  Bedford  town,  was 
unveiled  by  Lady  Augusta  Stanley,  in  1874.  A  recumbent 
monument,  designed  and  executed  by  E.  C.  Papworth,  had,  by 
a  Committee  of  which  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  President, 
been  placed  over  Bunyan's  tomb  in  Bunhill  Fields,  in  1861.* 
The  statue  erected,  in  Bedford,  however,  was  a  yet  nobler 
creation  of  the  sculptor's  art,  and  the  public  celebration  con- 
nected with  its  unveiling  will  long  be  remembered  as  an 
occasion  when  men  in  all  ranks  of  life  and  of  all  diversities  of 
religious  opinion  joined  together  in  doing  honour  to  the 
memory  of  one  who,  perhaps,  more  than  any  other  Englishman, 
is  the  representative  of  all  that  is  most  central  in  the  Christian 
faith.  Presided  over  by  the  Mayor  of  the  town,  the  great 
assembly  gathered  on  that  occasion  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  containing  representatives  from  America  and 
the  British  Colonies,  was  addressed  by  Earl  Cowper  as  Lord 
Lieutenant  of  the  County  ;  by  Mr.  Whitbread,  who  was  not 
only  the  Parliamentary  representative  of  the  borough,  but  also 
the  representative  of  ancestors  who,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
personally  associated  with  Bunyan  himself  ;  by  Dr.  Brock  and 
Dr.  Allon  as  standing  for  the  great  body  of  the  Nonconformists  ; 
and  by  Dean  Stanley  as  representing  the  National  Church. 
The  Dean,  with  his  wide  catholic  sympathies,  was  never  more 

*  Besides  this  monument  in  Bunhill  Fields  and  the  statue  in  Bedford,  two 
memorial  "windows  have  recently  been  placed  in  the  chancel  of  Elslow  Churoh, 
the  one  presenting  scenes  Irom  the  Pilgrim'' s  Progress,  the  other  from  the  Rubj 
War. 


1874.]    FJDITIOXS,  ETC.,  OF  "PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS:'  4Sl 

truly  himself  than  when,  as  on  this  occasion,  seeking  to  atone 
by  large-minded  utterances  for  the  injustice  wrought  two 
centuries  before  by  the  Church  to  w^hich  he  belonged.  He 
himself  had,  at  the  request  of  the  donor  of  the  statue,  selected 
the  subjects  for  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  pedestal ;  she  who  was 
the  inspiring  influence  of  his  public  life,  had  performed 
the  ceremony  of  unveiling  ;  and  it  was  he  who  gave  the  one 
distinctive  tone  to  the  gathering  of  the  day.  lie  showed  how 
Bunyan  was  great  as  the  man  and  the  preacher,  but  greater 
slill  as  the  dear  teacher  of  the  childhood  of  each  of  us,  as  the 
creator  of  those  characters  w^hose  names  and  faces  are  familiar 
to  the  whole  world  ;  as  the  writer  of  one  of  the  few  books  which 
act  as  a  religious  bond  to  the  whole  of  English  Christendom. 
The  pilgrimage  Bunyan  described  is,  he  said,  the  pilgrimage 
of  every  one  of  us,  and  the  combination  of  neighbours,  friends, 
and  enemies  whom  he  saw  in  his  dream,  are  the  same  as  we 
see  in  our  actual  lives.  "VVe  have  met,  nay,  we  have  ourselves 
been,  the  people  he  describes  : — 

"All  of  us  need  to  be  cheered  by  the  help  of  Greatheart,  and 
Standfast,  and  VaUant  for  the  Truth,  and  good  old  Honest.  Some 
of  us  have  been  in  Doubting  Castle,  some  in  the  Slough  of  Despond, 
some  have  experienced  the  temptations  of  Vanity  Fair ;  all  of  us 
have  to  climb  the  Hill  Difficulty,  all  of  us  need  to  bo  instructed 
by  the  Interpreter  in  the  House  Beautiful ;  all  of  us  boar  the  same 
burden  ;  all  of  us  need  the  same  anuour  in  our  fight  witli  Apollyon ; 
all  of  us  have  to  pass  through  the  wicket  gate,  all  of  us  have  to 
pass  through  the  dark  river ;  and  for  all  of  us  (if  God  so  will)  tlicro 
wait  the  Shining  Ones  at  the  gates  of  the  Celestial  City,  '  which, 
when  we  see,  wo  wish  ourselves  amongst  them.'  "  * 

•  It  is  to  these  clo.sing  words  the  following  touching  letter,  received  liy  mo  from 
the  Dean  shortly  after  the  death  of  Lady  Augusta,  refers  : — 

"  Deaneky,  Wkktmi.nkteh,  ^farcll  \ltli,  1870. 
"  My  deau  Sin, —  I  thank  you  .sincerely.  That  day  at  iJi-dfoid  wjh  one  of  tho 
last  public  appearances  of  my  dear  wife,  and  will  always  he  cheri.shed  amongst 
my  brightest  recollections  of  her.  We  had  l>eon  so  much  occupied  before  w«< 
arrived  at  I'edford,  that  I  had  only  time  lo  read  Uj  her  Ww.  concluding  part  of 
my  ttddrcsa  (as  I  read  evcrytliing  to  lier)  a  few  minutes  before  wo  wont  to  tlio 
solemnity;  and  tlie  last  words  of  it— from  awaking  a  chord  of  some  do&r  scenu 
of  former  years— quit*j  overcame  her.  Y<ju  will  see  on  turning  to  them  why 
this  should  be,  and  why  your  letter  recalls  tliem  to  nic  now  %viih  buch  moving 
jKJwer.  I>o  not  let  her  name  bo  forgotten  among  your  people,  f(jr  sho  waa 
indeed  worthy  of  remembrance.     Yours  sincerely,  A.  1'.  STANLliY." 

I  I 


482  JOEN  BUNYAN.  [chap.  xix. 

The  task  we  have  undertaken  draws  to  its  close.  There 
remains  but  the  expression  of  the  hope  that  we  may  each  of  us 
take  to  his  own  life  the  lesson  of  the  life-story  we  have  followed; 
the  lesson  that  through  all  opposing  force  of  ill  we  should 
each  be  true  to  our  better  selves,  true  to  the  light  which 
comes  to  each  man  from  heaven,  and  true  to  the  generation  in 
the  midst  of  which  it  was  ordained  that  our  own  life-work 
should  be  wrought.  The  history  of  the  past  fails  of  its  deepest 
purpose  if  it  holds  up  no  guiding  light  to  the  present.  In 
stirring  lines  called  forth  by  the  Bunyan  Celebration  of  1874, 
it  may  be  said  that — 

"  To  deal  with  the  Past  is  of  small  concern  ; 
That  light  for  the  day's  life  is  each  day's  need, 
That  the  Tinker-Teacher  has  sown  his  seed  ; 
And  we  want  our  Bunyan  to  show  the  way 
Through  the  Sloughs  of  Despond  that  are  round  us  to-day, 
Our  guide  for  straggling  souls  to  wait, 
And  lift  the  latch  of  the  wicket-gatc. 

"  The  Churches  now  dehate  and  wrangle, 
Strange  doubts  theology  entangle  : 
Each  sect  to  the  other  doth  freedom  grudge, 
Archbishop  asks  ruling  of  a  judge. 
Why  comes  no  pilgrim,  with  eye  of  fire. 
To  toll  us  where  pointeth  minster  s^Dire, 
To  show,  though  critics  may  sneer  and  scoff, 
The  path  to  '  The  Land  that  is  very  far  off'  ? 
The  People  are  weary  of  vestment  vanities, 
Of  litigation  about  inanities. 
And  fain  would  listen,  0  Preacher  and  Peer, 
To  a  voice  like  that  of  this  Tinker-Seer  ; 
AVho  guided  the  Pilgrim  up,  beyond 
The  Valley  of  Death,  and  the  Slough  of  Despond, 
And  Doubting  Castle,  and  Giant  Despair, 
To  those  Delectable  Mountains  fair, 
And  over  the  River,  and  in  at  the  Gate 
AVhcro  for  weary  Pilgrims  the  Angels  wait !  " 


I 


APPENDIX  I. 


CnRONOLOGICAL  LIST  OF  BUNYAN'S  WORKS. 

Prik-ted   by  Charles   Doe   ix    1698   as   ax  Appendix  to  "  Thk 
Heavenly  Footman,"  and  Corrected  to  the  present  time. 

A  Catalogue  of  all  Mr.  Bunyan's  Books. 

Eunning  Eeader ! 

ITJiat  now  help  you  to  this  Heavenly  Foot-Man  in  Print,  {being  the  Person  that 
Jirst  moved  and  procured  the  Prviting  in  folio,  above  Twenty  of  our  Author 
Banyan's  Pieces)  have  also  now  given  you  here,  a  Catalogue  of  all  that  great  Convert's 
Works,  in  order  of  Time,  as  they  succeeded  each  other  in  Ptblication,  (as  near  as  I 
can  understand)  and  I  do  also  love  them,  and  would  have  you  do  so  too,  as  thty  arc  the 
Experience  and  Knowledge  of  a  great  Convert,  which  indeed  is  a  great  Monument  of 
the  mighty  power  of  Grace,  and  a  Jit  Fellow-Traveller  for  a  Heavenly  Fool-man. 

Borough,  London,  Charles  Doe. 

March  20,  169S. 

This  Catalogue,  is  word  for  tcord,  as  it  is  in  the  several  Titlc-Pagcs,  except  the  Texts. 
1.  C10/HC  Gospel-Truths  opened  according  to  the  Sirijitures,  or  the  Divine  and 

kJ  Human  Nature  of  Christ  Jesus  ;  His  coming  into  the  World  ;  his  Righte- 
ousness, Death,  Resurrection,  Ascention,  Intercession,  and  Second  Coming  to  Judg- 
ment, plainly  demonstrated  and  proved ;  and  also  Answers  to  several  (iu<'8tion8, 
with  profitable  Directions  to  stand  fast  in  the  Doctrin  of  the  Son  of  Mary  against 
those  blusterous  Storms  of  the  Devil's  Tcmptiitions,  which  at  this  day  like  so 
many  Scorpions  break  loose  from  the  Bottomless  I'it,  to  bite  and  toniu'nt  those 
that  have  not  tasted  the  Virtue  of  Jesus,  by  the  Revelation  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Published  for  the  good  of  God's  Chosen  Ones,  by  that  Unworthy  Servant  of 
Christ  John  Banyan  of  Bedford,  by  tho  Grace  of  God  I'roacher  of  the  (tospel  of 
his  Dear  Son,  Job.  14.6.  Act  4.12.  Published  1C5G,  in  about  11  Sheets  in 

12^.  and  it  is  now  in  the  Folio. 

2.  A  Vindication  of  tho  Book  called  Some  Gospel- Truths  opened  according  to  the 
Scriptures  ;  and  tho  opposition  made  against  it  by  Edward  Borrough  a  profcsnod 
Quaker,  (but  proved  an  Knemy  to  tin;  I'ruth)  Exiimiiud  and  Ci)nfutcd  by  th<! 
Word  of  God  ;  and  also  the  things  tliat  were  then  laid  down,  and  declared  t<j  tho 
World  ;  by  mo  are  a  second  Time  born  witness  to,  according  to  Trulli ;  willi  the 
Answer  of  Edward  iSorrough  to  the  (Queries  then  laid  down  in  my  Hook  reproved  ; 
and  also  a  plain  Answer  to  hi.s  (iueries  given  in  syrjplicity  of  Soul ;  and  is  now 
also  presented  to  tho  World,  or  who  cUo  may  read  or  hi'ar  tl:?m ;  to  th«  end,  (if 
(jod  will)  ihiit  Truth  may  be  diHeoven.-d  thereby. 

I5y  John  Hum/an  I'reuchcr  of  the  (Ju.ipel  of  Christ,  Act.  13.  Z2,  2S,  and  'J9,  GO, 
and  32,  33,  and  38,  and  39.     rublished  ICiT.     in  about  8  Shcota  in  4*. 

I  I  2 


484  APPENDIX  I. 

3.  Sighs  from  Hell ;  or,  the  Groans  of  a,  Damned  Soul,  discovering  from  the  16th 
of  LTiJce,  the  Lamentable  state  of  the  Damned  ;  and  may  fitly  serve  as  a  warning- 
word  to  Sinners  both  Old  and  Young,  by  Faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  to  avoid  the  same 
plac(;  of  Torment;  with  a  discovery  of  the  usefulness  of  the  Scriptures,  &n  OMr 
gafe  Conduct  for  the  avoiding  the  Torments  of  Hell.  By  John  Bunyan. 

Published  in  about  7  Sheets,  [1658]  in  12°.    It  hath  now  been  Printed  9  times. 

4.  The  Doctrin  of  the  Laio  and  Grace  unfolded,  or  a  Discourse  touching 
the  Laio  and  Grace,  the  nature  of  the  one,  and  the  nature  of  the  other ; 
shewing  what  they  are,  as  they  are  the  two  Covenants,  and  likewise  who 
they  be,  and  what  their  Conditions  are  that  be  under  either  of  these  two 
Covenants :  Wherein  for  the  better  understanding  of  the  Reader,  there  are 
several  Questions  answered  touching  the  Law  and  Grace,  very  easy  to  be  read, 
and  as  easy  to  be  understood  by  those  that  are  the  Sons  of  "Wisdom,  the  Children 
of  the  second  Covenant ;  also  several  Titles  set  over  the  several  Truths  contained 
in  this  Book,  for  thy  sooner  finding  them,  which  are  those  following  the  Epistle. 

Published  by  that  Poor  Contemptible  Creature  John  Huni/an  of  Bedford. 
Heb.  7.  19.  Rom.  3.  28.  Mom.  4.  5.  In  about  23  Sheets,  in  8°. 

[4.*  Profitable  Meditations,  Fitted  to  Man's  Different  Conditions.  In  a  Conference 
between  Christ  and  a  Sinner.  In  nine  Particulars.  By  John  Butiyan,  Servant  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  (1661).  This  work,  unknown  to  Doe,  M'as  discovered  by  J.  C. 
Hotten.    Vide  p.  171.] 

5.  I IV ill  Pray  ivith  the  Spirit  and  with  the  Understanding  also  ;  or,  a  Discourse 
touching  Prayer,  wherein  is  briefly  discoursed,  1.  What  Prayer  is.  2.  What  it 
js  to  Pray  with  the  Spirit.  3.  What  it  is  to  Pray  with  the  Spirit,  and  with  the 
Understanding  also. 

By  John  Bunyan.     Pom.  8.  26.  Cor.  14.  15. 

Published  1663,  in  about  4  Sheets,  in  12°.  and  is  now  in  the  Folio. 

[5*  Christian  Behaviour,  1663.     Yide  below.  No.  19.] 

6.  A  Map,  shewing  the  order  and  causes  of  Salvation  and  Damnation. 

By  John  Bunyan,  in  a  Broadside  of  a  Sheet,  Copper  Cut,  Price  6d.  and  it  is  now 
in  the  Folio. 

7.  The  Four  last  things,  Death  and  Judynunt,  Heaven  and  Hell. 
In  about  3  Sheets,  in  16°.  in  Verse. 

8.  Mount  Fbel  and  Gerrizem,  or  the  Blessings  and  the  Cursings. 
In  about  a  Sheet,  in  16°.  in  Verse. 

9.  Prison-Meditations,  in  about  half  a  Sheet,  in  Verse. 

10.  The  Holy  City,  or  the  New  Jerusalem,  wherein  its  goodly  Lights,  Walls 
Gates,  Angels,  and  the  manner  of  their  standing  are  Expounded,  also  her  length 
and  bredth  ;  together  with  the  Golden  Measuring- Reed  explained,  and  the  Glory 
of  all  unfolded,  as  also  the  numerousness  of  its  Inhabitants ;  and  what  the  Tree, 
and  W'.iter  of  Life  are,  by  which  they  are  sustained. 

By  John  Bunyan,  a  Servant  of  Christ.     Psa.  87.  3.     Fzek.  38.  33. 
Published  1665,  in  10  Sheets,  now  in  the  Folio. 

11.  "J'he  Resurrection  of  the  Dead,  and  Eternal  Judgment,  or  the  Truth  of  the 
Resurr/xjtion  of  the  Bodies,  both  of  good  and  bad  at  the  last  day,  asserted  and 
proved  by  God's  Word  ;  also  the  manner  and  order  of  their  coming  forth  of  their 
Graves,  as  also  with  what  Bodies  they  do  arise  ;  together  with  a  Discourse  of  the 
last  Ju\lgment,  and  the  final  Conclusion  of  the  whole  World. 

By  ithn  Bunyan,  a  Servant  of  the  Lord's  Christ.     1  Cor.  15.  51,  52.    Jol.  5. 
28,  29. 
Published  1665,  in  about  7  Sheets,  in  8°.  and  it  is  now  in  the  Folio. 


CEROXOLOGICAL  LIST  OF  BUXTAN'S  WORKS.      485 

12.  Grace  abounding  to  the  chief  of  Sinners,  or  a  brief  and  fnithful  Relation 
of  the  exceeding  Mercy  of  God  in  Christ  to  his  poor  Servant  John  liinu/an  ; 
tchtrein  is  particular!!/  shewed  the  Maimer  of  his  Conversion,  his  sight  and  trouble  for 
Sin,  his  dreadful  Temptations,  also  how  he  despaired  of  God's  Mercy,  and  how  the 
Lord  at  length  through  Christ,  did  deliver  him  from  all  the  Guilt  and  Terror  that 
lay  upon  him  ;  all  which  was  written  by  his  own  Hand,  and  now  published  for 
the  support  of  the  weak  and  tempted  People  of  God.     Tsa.  G6.  IG. 

In  8  Sheets,  in  12'  [1666].     Printed  7  times. 

13.  A  defence  of  the  Doctrin  of  Justification  by  Faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  shewing 
true  Gospel  Holiness  flows  from  thence ;  or  Mr.  Fowler's  pretended  Design  of 
Christianity,  proved  to  be  nothing  more,  than  to  trample  under  foot  the  Blood 
of  the  Son  of  God,  and  Idolizing  of  Man's  own  Jiightcousness  ;  as  also  while  he 
pretends  to  be  a  Minister  of  the  Church  of  England,  he  overthroweth  the  wholsom 
Doctrin  contained  in  the  10th,  11th,  and  13th  of  the  39  Articles  of  the  same,  and 
that  he  falleth  in  with  the  Quaker  and  Romanist  against  them. 

IJy  John  Banyan.     1  Pet.  2.  4. 

Published  1671.     In  about  16  Sheets  in  4". 

14.  A  Confession  of  Faith,  and  Reason  of  my  Practice  ;  or  with  who,  and  who 
not,  I  can  hold  Church-Fellowship,  or  the  Communion  of  Saints;  shewing  by 
divers  Arguments,  that  tho'  I  dare  not  Communicate  with  the  open  Profane,  yet 
[  can  with  those  visible  Saints  that  differ  about  Water-Baptism  ;  wherein  is  also 
discoursed,  whether  'that  be  the  Eatering-Ordainance  into  Fellowship,  or  no. 
Fsa.  116.  10. 

Published  1672,  in  about  6  Sheets  in  12°. 

15.  Difference  \n  iM^gja^ni  about  Water-Baptism  no  Bar  to  Communion,  or  to 
Communicate  with  Saints,  as  Saints,  proved  Lawful ;  in  answer  to  a  Book 
written  by  the  Baptists,  and  published  by  Mr.  T.  P.  and  W.  K.  entituled,  Some 
serious  Jtejlectioiis  on  that  part  of  ilr.  Bunyan's  Confession  of  Faith,  touching 
Church-Communion  with  L'nbaptized  Believers :  wherein  their  Objections  and 
Arguments  are  answered,  and  tho  Doctrine  of  Communion  still  asserted  and 
vindicated.  Here  is  also  Mr.  Hen.  Jesse's  Judgment  in  the  Case,  fully  declaring 
the  Doctrine  I  have  asserted. 

By  John  Banyan,  1673.  in  about  8  Sheets  in  8'. 

16.  Peaceable  Principles  and  true,  or  a  brief  answer  to  Mr.  Danvcr's  and  Jlr. 
PauCi  Books  against  my  Confession  of  Faith,  and  Difference  in  Judgment  about 
Water-Baptism,  no  Bar  to  Communion  ;  wherein  their  Scripturcless-Nolions  aro 
overthrown,  and  my  Peaceable  I'rinciplea  still  maintained.  By  /.  Banyan, 
Paal.  58.  1. 

Published  1G74.  in  about  2  sheets  in  12°. 

17.  Reprobation  Assert'jd,  or  the  Doctrine  of  Eternal  Flection  and  Reprobation 
promiscuously  handled,  in  eleven  Chapters;  wherein  tho  most  ilatorial  Ohjections 
against  this  Doctrine  aro  Answor'd,  several  doubts  removed,  and  sundry  Cases 
i)f  Conscience  Hcsolvcd. 

By  John  Banyan,  a  lover  of  Peace  and  Truth.     Rom.  117.  In  about  C 

Bheeta  in  4°.     [Vido  p.  244.] 

18.  Light  for  them  tlmt  hit  in  Darlness,  or  a  Discourse  of  Jeiun  Christ,  and  that 
he  undert/^ok  to  uccomiilihh  by  liiiuMtlf  the  Eternal  lUdemption  of  Sinneis  :  AIho, 
how  tho  Ixjrd  Jesus  addrest  himself  to  tho  Work,  with  undeniablo  Demonstra- 
tions th'it  he  p<-rforfiied  the  Bam<!  ;  ()bj<-<tions  to  the  contrary  answerd. 

liy  Jo/.n  Banyan,  Gal.  .5.  K5.  in  about  10  Bhoels,  [167''>J  ""</  *t  i*  mw  in  the 
Folio. 


486  APPENDIX  L 

19.  Christian  Behaviour,  being  the  Fruits  of  True  Christianity,  teachina; 
Husbands,  Wives,  Parents,  Children,  Masters,  Servants,  ^-c.  how  to  walk  so  aa 
to  please  God,  with  a  word  of  Directions  to  all  Backsliders. 

By  John  Bunyan,lieh.  6.  7,  8.     In  5  sheets  in  12°,  and  it  is  now  in  the  Folio. 
[This  work  should  stand  No.  6,  being  first  published  in  1663.     Vide  p.  175.] 

20.  Instructions  for  the  Ijnorant,  being  a  Salve  to  cure  that  great  want  of 
Knowledge  which  so  much  reigns  both  in  Young  and  Old,  prepared  and  pre- 
sented to  them,  in  a  jjlain  and  easy  Dialogue,  fitted  to  the  Capacity  of  the 
Weakest. 

By  John  Bunijan,  Hos.  4.  6.  published  1675.  in  about  3  sheets  in  12",  and  it  is 
now  in  the  Folio. 

21.  Saved  by  Grace,  or  a  Discourse  of  the  Grace  of  God  ;  shewing,  1.  What  it 
is  to  be  Saved.  2.  What  it  is  to  be  saved  by  Grace.  3.  Who  they  are  that  are 
saved  by  Grace.  4.  How  it  appears  that  they  are  saved  by  Grace.  5.  What 
should  be  the  Reason,  that  God  should  chuse  to  save  Sinners  by  Grace,  rather 
than  by  any  other  means. 

By  John  Biaujan,  Eph.  2.  5.  In  5  sheets  in  12°  [1675],  and  it  is  now  in  the  Folio. 

22.  The  Straight  Gate,  or,  great  difficulty  of- going  to  Heaven;  plainly  proving 
by  the  Scriptures,  that  not  only  the  Rude  and  Profane,  but  many  great  Pro- 
fessors wiU  come  short  of  that  Kingdom. 

By  John  Buni/an,  Mat.  7.  13,  14.  published  1676.  in  5  sheets  in  12°,  and  it  is 
now  in  the  Folio. 
^.       23.  The  Filgrims  Progress,  from  this  World  to  that  which  is  to  come,  delivered 
}j\  under  the  similitude  of  a  Dream;  wherein  is  discovered  the  manner  of  his 

setting  out,  his  dangerous  Journey,  and  safe  arrival  at  the  desired  Country. 
Hy  John  Bunyan.     Hose.  12.  10. 
In  about  9  sheets  in  12°  [1678],  Printed  13  times. 

24.  A  Treatise  of  the  Fear  of  God,  shewing  what  it  is,  and  how  distinguished 
from  that  which  is  not  so  ;  also  whence  it  comes,  who  has  it,  what  are  the  Effects, 
and  what  the  Privileges  of  those  that  have  it  in  their  Hearts. 

By  John  Bunyan.     Psal.  128.  1. 
Published  1679.  in  about  15  sheets,  in  8°. 

25.  Come  and  Welcom  to  Jesus  Christ,  or  a  plain  and  profitable  Discourse  on 
John  6.  Verse  37  shewing  the  cause  and  true  manner  of  the  Coming  of  a  Sinner 
to  Jesus  Christ,  with  his  happy  Keception,  and  blessed  Entertainment. 

By  John  Bunyan.     Isa.  27.  13. 

In  about  9  sheets,  in  12°.  [1678.     This  should  precede  No.  24.] 

[Life  and  Death  of  Mr.  Badman,  1680,  should  stand  No.  26.     Vide  No.  32.] 

26.  The  Holy  War  made  by  Shaddai  upon  Diabolus  for  the  Regaining  the 
Metropolis  of  the  World,  or  the  losing  and  taking  again  of  the  Toivn  of  Mansoul. 

By  John  Banyan.     Hos.  12.  10. 
Published  1682  in  about  26  sheets,  in  8°. 

27.  The  Barren  Figtree,  or  the  Doom  and  Downfall  of  the  Fruitless  Professor  ; 
shewing  that  the  day  of  Grace  may  be  past  with  him  long  before  his  Life  is 
ended :  the  Signs  also  by  which  such  Miserable  Mortals  may  be  known. 

By  John  Bunyan.     In  about  8  sheets,  in  12°.  [1682.] 

28.  The  greatness  of  the  Soul,  and  unspeakableness  of  the  loss  thereof,  with 
the  causes  of  the  losing  of  it;  first  Preached  at  Pinners  Hall,  and  now  enlarged, 
and  published  for  Good. 

By  John  Bunyan.     [1683.] 


CEBOyOLOGICAL  LIST  OF  BUXYAN'S  WORKS.      4S7 

29.  A  Case  of  Cousienee  Resolved,  viz.  Whether^  where  a  Church  of  Christ  is 
sltttate,  it  is  the  Duty  of  the  tcomeJi  of  that  Congregation  ordinarily,  and  by  nppoiut- 
mcitt,  to  septrate  thcintitlves  from  their  Brethren,  and  so  to  asstmbie  together  to  per- 
form some  parts  of  iJivine  Warship,  as  Prayer,  &c.  Without  their  Men  :  And  the 
Areruments  made  use  of  for  that  Practice,  examined. 

By  Jolm  Banyan,  Pub.  1GS3.  in  about  5  sh.  in  4". 

[A  Holy  Life  the  Beauty  of  Christianity,  1G81,  should  stand  as  No.  30.  Vido 
Xo.  33.] 

30.  Seasonable  Counsels,  or  advice  to  Sufferers. 
By  John  Banyan,  Pub.  1684  about  9  sh.  in  12". 

31.  The  Filgrim's  Progress,  from  this  World  to  that  which  is  to  come,  The 
second  part  ;  delivered  under  the  similitude  of  a  Bream  ;  wherein  is  set  forth  the 
manner  of  the  setting  out  of  Christian's  Wife  and  Children,  and  their  dangerous 
Journey  &  saf-j  an'ival  at  the  desired  Country. 

By  John  Banyan,  Hos.  12.  10.     In  about  9  sh.  in  12'.  [1684.  O.S.  168.5  N.S.]. 

32.  The  Life  and  Death  of  Sir.  Badman,  presented  to  the  AVurld  in  a  familiar 
Dialogue  between  Mr.  Wisman  and  Mr.  Attentive. 

By  John  Banyan,  In  about  16  sheets  in  12°. 

[This  should  stand  as  No.  26,  being  first  published  in  1680.] 

33.  A  llo/y  Life  the  Beauty  of  Christianity,  or  an  E.xhortation  to  Christians  to 
be  Ilolg. 

By  John  Banyan,  Pstil.  93.  5.  Pub.  1684.  [O.S.]  In  9.  sh.  12'. 

34.  A  Discourse  upon  the  Pharisee  and  Publican,  where  several  great  and 
weighty  things  are  handled  :  As  the  nature  of  Prayer,  and  of  Obedience  to  the 
I^w  ;  with  how  far  it  obliges  Christians,  and  wherein  it  Consists  :  Wherein  iu 
also  shewed  the  eqaiUy  deplorable  Condition  of  the  Pharisee  or  Hypocritical  self- 
Kighteous  Man,  and  of  the  Publican  or  Sinner,  that  lives  in  Sin,  and  in  open 
Violation  of  the  Divine  Laws  ;  together  with  the  Way  and  Method  of  (Jod's 
Free-Grace  in  Pardoning  Penitent  Sinners  ;  Proving,  that  he  Justifies  them  by 
imputing  Christs  Righteousness  to  them. 

By  John  Banyan,  Luk.  18.  10,  11,  12,  13.  Published  168.).  in  about  10  sheets 
in  12'. 

3.5.  A  Caution,  to  stir  up  to  Watch  against  Sin.  [1684.  Tliis  should  precede 
No.  34.] 

36.  Questions  about  the  Nature  and  perpetuity  of  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath, 
and  Proof,  that  the  first  Day  of  the  Week,  is  the  True  Christian  Sabbath.  By  J. 
B.  Mat.  12.  8.  Pub.  16S.j. 

37.  A  Book  for  Boys  and  Girls,  or  Country  Rhymes  for  Cliildren,  in  Verse,  on 
74  things.     By  J.  B.  Pub.  1086.  In  about  G  sheets  12'. 

38.  '\!Y\(i  JtramUni  Sinner  saved,  or  good  News  to  the  Vilest  o/".!/"!*/,  being  a 
help  for  Despairing  Souls  ;  showing  that  Jesus  Chri.st  would  have  Jlercy  offered 
in  the  first  place  to  the  biggest  Sinners  :  The  Second  Edition,  in  which  is  added, 
an  Answer  to  those  Grand  Objicti(jn8  that  lye  in  the  Way  of  tluiin  that  would 
Believe ;  for  the  Comfort  of  tho8e  that  fear  they  have  Sinned  against  the  lluly 
Ghost.     By  John  Bungan.     Pub.  1088.  In  8  sh.  in  12'. 

39.  The  Work  of  Jesus  Christ  as  an  Adrocate,  clearly  Explain'd  and  largly 
Improved,  for  the  Benefit  of  all  lielievers,  from  1  Job.  2.  1. 

By  John  Banyan,  Pub.  1088.  in  about  10  sh.  Vl\ 

40.  A  DiBcoursfl  of  the  Building,  Xatare,  Excellencies,  and  Oovrrnment  of  the 
lIon»e  of  O'od,  with  Counsel  and  I)iri(  lions  to  the  Inhabitants  thereof. 

By  John  Banyan,  Paal.  20.  8.  I'ubli«h<  d  1688.  in  about  .0  sheets  in  12". 


488  APPENDIX  I. 

41.  The  Water  of  Life,  or  a  Discourse,  shewing  the  Riches  and  Glory  of  tha 
Grace  and  Spirit  of  the  Gospel,  as  set  forth  in  Scripture  by  this  Term,  Th^ 
Water  of  Life.     By  John  Bumjan.     Published  1688.     In  about  5  sheets  in  12°. 

42.  Sohmoji's  Temple  Spiritualized,  or  Gospel-light  fetcht  out  of  the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem,  to  let  us  more  easily  unto  the  Glory  of  New-Testament  Truths. 

By  John  Bunyan,  Eze.  43.  10,  11.     Published  1688.  in  about  9  sheets  in  12' 

43.  The  Acceptable  Sacrifice,  or  the  Excellency  of  a,  Broken  Heart ;  shewing 
the  Nature,  Signs  and  proper  Effects  of  a  Contrite  Spirit. 

By  John  Bumjan,  Psal.  51.  17.     Published  1688.  in  about  7  sheets  in  12°. 

44.  Mr.  John  Bumjan's  last  Sermon  at  London,  Preached  at  Mr.  Gammon's 
Meeting-House  near  White-chappel  Ang.  19  1688.  upon  John  1.  13.  shewing  a 
Resemblance  between  a  Natural  and  a  Spiritual  Birth  :  And  how  every  Man  and 
Woman  may  try  themselves,  and  know  whether  they  are  Born  again,  or  not. 

Published  1689.  in  about  1  sheet  in  12°. 

The  Twelve  pieces  follpwing  were  left  by  Mr.  Bunyan  m  Manuscript,  and  icere 
never  Printed,  hut  in  the  Folio  1692,  viz. 

45.  An  Exposition  on  the  ten  first  Chapters  of  Genesis,  &c.  in  about  19  sheets. 

46.  Of  Justification  by  Jmputed  Righteousness  ;  or.  No  way  to  Heaven,  but  by 
Jesus  Christ. 

47.  Pauls  Departure  and  Crown,  or  an  Exposition  upon  2  Tim.  4.  6,  7,  8.  In 
about  5  sheets. 

48.  Of  the  Trinity,  and  a  Christian. 

49.  Of  the  Law,  and  a  Christian. 

50.  Israel's  Hope  Encouraged,  or  what  Hope  is,  and  how  Distinguished  from 
Faith,  with  Encouragement  for  a  hoping  People.     Psal.  130.  7. 

61.  The  Desires  of  the  Righteous  Granted,  or  a  Discourse  of  the  Righteous  Mans 
Desires,  Prov.  11.  23.     Prov.  10.  24.     In  about  6  sheets,  in  Folio. 

52.  The  Saints  Priviledge  and  Profit,  Heb.  4.  16. 

53.  Christ  a  Compleat  Saviour,  or  the  Intercession  of  Christ  and  who  are 
privileg'd  in  it,  Heb.  7.  25.     In  about  8  sheets,  in  Folio. 

54.  The  Saints  Knowledge  of  Christ  Love,  or  the  unsearchable  Riches  of  Christ, 
Eph.  3.  18,  19. 

55.  Of  the  House  of  the  Forest  of  Lebanon.     In  about  5  sheets,  in  Folio. 

56.  Of  Antichrist,  and  his  Ruin;  and  the  Slaying  of  the  Witness,  In  about 
8  sheets,  in  Folio. 

The  four  Books  following  were  never  yet  Printed,  except  this  now  of  the  Heavenly 
Footman,  tvhich  L  bought  in  1691,  now  six  years  since,  of  Mr.  John  Bunj^an,  the 
Eldest  So7i  of  our  Author  ;  and  I  have  now  put  it  into  the  World  in  Print,  Word 
for  word,  as  it  came  from  him  to  me. 

57.  A  Christian  Dialogue. 

58.  The  Heavenly  Footman,  &c.  [1698.] 

59.  A  Pocket  Concordance. 

60.  An  Account  of  his  Imprisonment  [176-')]. 

Here  are  Sixty  Pieces  of  his  Labours,  and  he  was  Sixty  Tears  of  Age. 


APPENDIX  IL 


LANGUAGES  AND  DIALECTS  INTO  WHICH  THE  "PILGRIM'S 
PROGRESS"   HAS  BEEN  TRANSLATED. 


BRITISH  ISLES. 
"Welsh.  Taith  y  Rrcrtii.    Gan  JohnBunyan:  London,  16S8;  Shrewsbury,  1699, 
CaerfjTddin,  1771  :  Dinbych,  1854  ;  Wrexham,  1861 ;  Caernarvon, 
1862  :  New  York,  1880. 
Gaelic,  Cuairt  an    Oilthirick.      Diin-Eudainn,    1812.      Turns  a'    Chriosduidh. 

Glasgow,  1869. 
Irish.      Gliiaiseachd  an    Oilithrigh.     Aistrithghe  o    Jlbhearla   Eoin  Bhunian. 
Dublin,  1837.  , 

NORTHERN  EUROPE. 
Dutch.  Eeus  Christens Reyseuade  Eamigheyt.  Amsterdam,  16S2;  Utrecht,  1684; 

Groningen,  1740;  S'Gravcnhage,  1845;  New  York,  1851. 
Danish.      En  Pilkgrims  Fremgang.     Copenhagen,  1862. 
Swedish.  En    Christens  Jiesa    til  den   Saliga   Ewighetcn.        Gotheborg,    1743. 

(Preface  signed  Stockholm,  1726.) 
Norwegian.     Peasant  Dialect :  Pilegrxmsferd  or  denne  Verdi  til  den  Komande. 

Bergen,  1868.     laterary  Dialect :   Filegriinens  Vandring  fra  denne 

Verden  til  den  tHkommende.     Bergen,  1874. 
Icelandic.     For  Filagrhnsins  frd  Pessum  Heime  til  Eim  O'Komna.     London, 

1876. 
Russian.       Translated  by  J.  D.  Gassetzky.    Imp.  8vo.    AVith  the  illubtrations 

of  H.  C.  Selous,  Priolo  and  Friston,  St.  Petersburg,  1881. 
Lithuanian.   Krilkezioniis  Ketone  i  iiuq  iszganytiiigaji  Amzia.     Memcl,  1878. 
Esthonian.     RistHnnimesse  teekiiiminne  taewa  liiina.     Riga,  1870. 
Finnish.      Place  of  publication  and  date  uncertain. 
Liettish.       Place  of  publication  and  date  uncertain. 

CENTRAL  AND  EASTERN  EUROPE. 
German.     Einfs  Christen  Eeise  vach  der  teligen  Euigkeit.     Amsterdam,  1703. 

Fines  Christen  Jtiise  tinch  dcr  seligen  Etrigkeit.     In  dio  Ilochteutscho 
Spracho  iibersotzt.     London,  1751. 
I)ie  Pxlgerreise  von  John   Uunyan.     Hamburg,    1833,  1K05  ;  Giins, 
1848;  Bremen,  1870;   Barmen  and  SdittKart,  1864. 
Bohemian.      Testa  I'autniku  nil  horn  Sion.     Dli^  J.'iiia   Bunyfina.     Pcsth,  1871 
Polish.  Droga  Pielgrzymuiaeego  Chrzescianina  do  Wieetnosei  Jilogoilawioney  prsn 
Jana  liuuiana.     Translated  by  X.  Davida,  Belira,  1728.     Copy  in  the 
Bodleian,  1764. 


490  APPENDIX  II. 

Hungarian.  A  Zardndok  utja.     Bunyan  Janostol.     Pest,  18G7. 

Servian.     1879. 

Bulgarian.     CoDstantinople,  1866. 

SOUTHERN  EUROPE. 

Frencli.  Voyage  d'un  Chrestien  vers  VEternitc.  Amsterdam,  Jean  Boekholt, 
1685;  Bale,  1717;  Rotterdam,  1722:  Toulouse,  178S,  1878. 
Le  Felerinage  d'un  nomine  Chretien:  Tours,  1852.  Appended  ■with 
continuous  pagination :  Priercs  durant  la  Sninte  Messe,  Prieres 
aprfes  la  Sainte  Messe  et  Antiennes  a  la  Sainte  Vierge.  Other 
Editions :  Publication  de  la  Societe  de  St.  Victor :  Paris,  Lyon, 
Epernay,  1847.  Paris,  1821,  1831,  1855;  Rouen,  1821;  Lyon, 
1825  ;  Valence,  1841  ;  Plancjs  1847  ;  St.  Denis,  1860  ;  Jersey,  1818. 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  in  French  and  English.     London,  1876. 

Italian.  II  Fellcgrinaggio  del  Christiana.  Printed  secretly  at  Florence,  1851  ? 
Other  editions :  Geneva,  1855;  Firenze,  1863;  New  York,  1858. 

Spanish.  El  Viador  bajo  del  simil  de  un  siiefio.  Por  Juan  Bunyan.  London, 
1865.     New  York,  1851. 

Portuguese.  Peregrinaqao  de  hum  Christao,  ou  Viagem  para  a  cidade  celeste. 
1782.     A  Viagem  do  Christao. 

Modern  Greek.  Translated  by  S.  S.  Bilsonos.  Malta,  1824,  1831 ;  Athens, 
1854. 

ASIA. 

Hebrew.     Translated  by  S.  Hoga,  London,  1844,  1851. 

Arabic.     Translated  by  C.  F.  Schlienz.     Malta,  1834. 

Armenian.     American  Mission.     1882. 

Armeno-Turkish.  For  Armenians  in  S.  W.  Asia  Minor,  who  speak  Turkish, 
but  read  it  only  in  Armenian  character.     Constantinople,  1881. 

Greeo-Turkish.  Turkish,  in  Greek  character  for  the  use  of  Greeks  in  S.  W. 
Asia  Minor.     Constantinople,  1879. 

Modern  Syriae.  Translated  by  American  missionaries  at  Oroomiah,  1848. 
In  native  binding,  with  Questions  on  the  Work. 

Persian.     Part  I. — Translated  by  J.  L.  Potter,  Teheran. 

Pashtu  or  Afgha.ni.  Sair  us  Sdlilcii>.  Translated  by  Qazi  Abdur  Rahman, 
Khandari,  and  the  Rev.  T.  J.  L.  Mayer  of  the  C.M.S.  Dedicated 
to  His  Highness  the  Amir  of  Cabul.     Lahore,  1877.     4to. 

Urdu  or  Hindustani.    1841.    Panjab  Religious  Book  Society.   Lahore,  1847- 

Roman  Urdu.    Masihi  Musdjir  Kd  Ahwdl.     P.R.B.S.     Lahore. 

Persian  Urdu. 

Bengali.  Serampore;  Translated  by  Felix,  son  of  Dr.  Carey,  1821.  Calcutt>, 
1854;  Bhowanipore,  1877. 

Uriya  or  Orissa.  Translated  by  A.  Sutton.  Baptist  Mission  Press,  Cal- 
cutta, 1838  ;   Cuttack,  Orissa,  1873.     Revised  by  John  Buckley. 

Hindi.  Benares  :  Translated  from  the  Bengalee  Version  and  compared  with 
the  English. 

Sindhi.     Translated  for  the  C.M.S. 

Panjabi  or  Sikh.     Lodiana;  American  Mission  Press,  1843. 

Telugu.        Madras:  C.K.S.  Press,  Vcpery,  1882. 

Canarese.  Lithographed  Edition.  A  new  Edition  edited  by  the  Rev.  B.  Rice 
from  a  Translation  by  G.  Weigle  and  Dr.  Moegling :  Mangaloro. 
German  Mission  Press,  1861.     Part  II.     Wcsleyan  Mission,  1867. 


FOnETGX  VERSIOXS.  491 

Tamil.     English  and  Tamil.     Miss'on  Offices,  Vepcry,  1793.     Ito.     A  new 

translation  by  the  Eev.  S.  Paul,  C. M.S.,  Madras;  Vcpery,  1882. 

Fifth  Edition,  Madras.     American  Mission  Tress,  1848. 
Santali.     Isai  Jatri  rta  Darait  Kidmu  Ltkate  hor  llortc.     Translated  by  F.  G. 

Cole,  assisted   by  Harma   &  Chaitan,  native  Santals.     Calcutta, 

188.'). 
Malayalim.     Cottayam.   Printed  at  the  Church  ilission  Press,  1847.   licviscd 

by  Tr.  Murdoch,  1885. 
Marathi-Balbodh.     4th  Edition.     Bombay  :  Tract  and  Book  Society. 
Gujarati.     Tmnslatcd  by  "\V.  Kayniond. 
Singhalese.    Translated  by  the  Kev.  A.  Hume.     Colombo:  Wesleyan  Mission 

Press,  1826.     Another  Edition,  with  Notes.     Colombo,  18G7. 
Assamese.     Sibsagor,  Assam.     American  Mission,  1856. 
TThftsi      Ka  Jingltit  ka  jong  uha  u  Xonglcit  Rinblei.     Translator,  Mrs.  Lewis. 
Burmese.     American   Mission :   Maulmain,    1841.     Translated   by   Sarah   B. 

Judson. 
Sgau-Karen.     Mission  Press  :  Rangoon,  1863.     Translated  by  J.  AVade. 
Dyak.     I'aitsang  oloh  Eristtn  Mauintu  ktcn  Sorga.     For  the  Dyaks  of  Borneo. 

Bandjermasin,  1879. 
Malay.     Translated  by  B.  P.  Keaseberry,  Free  Church  Mission,  1854. 
Japanese.     Part  I. — Translated  by  the  Rev.  W.  J.  AVhite,  Baptist  Mission, 

and  illustrated  by  Japanese  artists :    Tokio,  1887. 
Chinese.      Wenli  or  Classical  style  :  common  to  the  whole  empire.     Translated 

by  W.  C.  Bums.      WetiU  or  Classical  style  :  Translated  by  Thomaa 

H.  Hudson,  Baptist  Missionary,  Xingpo,  1874. 
Mandarin  or   Court  Dialect.     Translated  by  W.   C.   Burns.     With 

Illustrations.     Shanghai:  American  Presbyterian  Mission,  1872. 
Canton  Vernacular.     Two  vols.     With  Chinese  Illustrations.     Trans- 
lated by  the  Rev.  G.  Piercy,  of  the  Wesleyan  Mission,  1870-1. 
Ainoy  Dialect.     Romanised  Colloquial.     American  Mission,  1865. 

AFRICA. 

Sechuana      Locto  lea  Mokreseti  lo  lo  Coan  haisin    Ycnn  lo  ea  Latsiri  i/e  la  tlafi. 

Y' haic  Bunyan.    Translated  by  Robert  Moflfat.    Kuruman  Mission 

Press,  1848. 
Kafir.        Chambo  lo  Mhamhi,  owesuka  Kvce   lilizwc  traye  esinya  Kwrlo  Lizayo. 

Translated  by  Tiyo  Sogo,  Lovedalo  Mission  Press,  1868. 
SesutO.     Lcrto  la  Mokrentc  la  go  tliloga  falsing  la  yuale  go  ea  Jinyclla  go  U  thla 

thla.     Printed  for  the  Paris  Evangelical  Missionary  Society,  1877. 

For  Basuto  Land,  for  the  Bapeli  and  other  tribes  of  the  Transvaal. 
Efik.         Inbiik   ylsana    Uiuii    Ifron.     Translated    by    Dr.   Robb,    of   the   U.P. 

Mission,  Old  Calabar.     Part  I.,  1868  ;   Part  II.,  1882. 
Otyiherero.     Ouycnda  ua  Mukrislc  Kotidnnda  yu  Zinn.     A  language  spoken  by 

the  Ovaherero   and  Ovamljandern,  S.W.  Al'riei.     Translated    by 

H.  Brincker.     Berlin,  1873. 
Tshf  or  Ashante.      Kristoni  Akwantee  avaseokristoui  Kwan,  &c.     Fur  natives 

ol  (iold  Coast,  W.  Alrica.     Tran«lat«d  by  two  nativofl  of  Akropong 

Hnd  roviscd  by  J.  G.  (  lirisUiller.     Bouel,  printed  for  Evangelical 

MiHHionary  Society,  ISS.O. 
Dualla.      Preparing  for  Baptist  Miimionary  Society  for  the  Camoroons. 


492  APPENDIX  11. 

Africa — continued. 

Yoruba.  Ilo-shcaju  ero-mimo  lati  aiye  yi  si  erji  ti  mhn.  Translated  by 
David  Hinderer,  a  German  Missionary  of  the  C.M.S.,  for  the 
several  Yoruba  tribes — Yoruba  proper,  Egba,  Ijebii,  Ijesa,  Effon, 
Ondo — extending  from  Dahomey  to  the  tribes  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Niger,  and  said  to  number  three  millions. 

ISLANDS  OF  THE  PACIFIC. 

Malagasy.  Ky  Faudehanany  mpivahiny,  &c.,  IS3S.  Fourth  Edition :  Antan- 
anarivo.    London  Mission  Press,  1878.     Another  Edition,  1882. 

Saratongan.  Te  Tcre  o  Te  Tintarcre,  mei  Tcianei,  &c.  Earatonga  :  L.  M. 
Press,  1846.     Translated  by  A.  Buzacott. 

Taliitian.  Te  Tere  o  Fererina  oia  hoi  o  Keresitiano,  &c.  O  Buniana  te  loa. 
Translated  by  Charles  Barff,  L.M.S.,  London,  1847. 

Maori.  He  Moetnoea.  Otira  ko  nga  korero,  &c.  Na  Hoani  Paniana. 
Translated  under  the  direction  of  the  Government.     Poneke,  1854. 

Fijian.  Ai  Tukutuku  kei  Vulagi-Lako.  Translated  by  Wm.  Moore  and  Mrs. 
Churchill,  and  revised  by  James  Calvert.  Wesleyan  Mission,  1867. 

Hawaiian.  Ea  Hele  Malihini  Ana  Mai  Keia,  kc.  American  Mission. 
Honolulu,  1842. 

Aneityumese.  Intas  va  Natga  u  Kristxan,  par  apan  an  pece  Upend.  London, 
1880.  This  is  an  abridged  edition,  and  bound  up  with  it  there  are  (1) 
a  First  Catechism,  (2)  a  Hymn  Book,  (3)  List  of  the  ordinal  numbers, 
(4)  Time  of  Sunrise  and  Sunset  at  Aneityum,  (5)  Assembly's 
Shorter  Catechism.  The  book  is  unusually  well  printed  and 
bound.  The  first  edition  was  translated  by  Mrs.  Geddie,  and 
revised  by  Dr.  Geddie;  the  second  edition  (1880)  was  revised  by 
Dr.  John  Inglis,  of  the  Free  Church  Mission. 

AMERICAN. 

Mexican.  M  Progresso  del  Peregmio.  Y  Traducido  al  Castellano  por  Santiago 
Pascoe.     Ixtapan  del  Oro.     Estado  de  Mexico,  1880.     4to. 

Cree.  For  the  Cree  Indians.     Translated  by  Archdeacon  Vincent,  1886. 

Dakota.  Mahpiya  Ekta  oicimani  ya.  Translated  by  S.  E.  Eiggs,  American 
Missionary.     Oomahoo,  1858. 


APPENDIX  III. 


POETICAL  VERSIONS  OF  THE  "  PILCtRIM'S  PROGRESS." 

Pilgrim's  Passage  in  Poesie.     By  Ager  Scholae,  A.^I.,  1G98.     4to. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress  done  into  Verse.     By  Francis  Hoffman,  1706. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress  rendered  into  Blank  Verse.    By  J.  S.  Dodd,  M.D.,  1795. 

Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress  Versified.     By  George  Burdcr,  1801. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress  rendered  into  familiar  Verse.     By  Isaac  James,  1815. 

Poetic  Sketches  from  Buuyan.     By  J.  B.  Drayton,  1821. 

A  Free  Poetic  Version  of  the  First  Part  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  in  Ten  Books. 
By  J.  B.  Drayton,  Cheltenham. 

Collection  of  Hymns,  founded  on  Bunyan.     By  Victor  Purdy,  1823. 

Original  Hymns  illustrative  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.  By  Thomas  Smith, 
1831. 

Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress  Metrically  Condensed.  In  six  cantos.  By  T. 
Dibdin,  1834. 

Illustrations  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  with  Sonnets.  By  Canon  Townscnd, 
1840. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress  vfrsified  after  John  Bunyan.     ByW.  E.  Hume,  1844. 

Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress  converted  into  an  Epic  Poem.  By  C.  C.  V.  G., 
Parsonstown,  1844. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  in  Verse.     By  Mrs.  Eberle.     New  York,  1854. 

Poetical  Illustrations  of  that  Immortal  Work,  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.  By  an 
Old  Pilgrim,  1SG5. 

PUgrim  Songs  from  Bunyan.     By  Lady  Linton  Foulis.     Paisley,  1881. 

Scenes  from  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.  By  R.  B.  Putter.  London :  Triibner 
1882. 

EDITIONS  OF  THE  "PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS"  FOR  CHILDREN 

AND  YOUNG  PEOPLE. 

Bunyan  explained  to  a  Child.     By  Isaac  Taylor  of  Ongar,  1825. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress  for  the  use  of  Children  of  the  English  Church.  Edited 
by  J.  M.  Neale,  1853. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress  in  64mo ;  a  miniature  abridgment,  1854. 

The  Story  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  told  for  Young  People,  1858. 

Picture  Cards :  Illustrating  the  Pilgiim's  Progriss.     K.T.S.,  1859. 

Iho  Children's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  with  Si.xteen  Illustrations.  By  Edward 
Wehncrt.     London,  1800. 

Christiana  and  her  Children.     Twelve  Illustrations.     R.T.R.,  18G0. 

The  Child's  Bunyan  :  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  for  the  young.     Now  York,  18G4. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  in  Words  of  one  Syllable.     By  M.  Godolphin,  18G9. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  in  Words  of  one  Syllable.     By  S.  P.  Day,  1872. 

Places  passt.d  by  J'ilgrims.  By  A.  L.  0.  E.  Twclvo  Tales  illus) rating  Die 
Pilgrim's  Progress,  1869. 

I'ho  Young  Pilgrim  :  a  Tulo  illustrativo  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  liy 
A.  L.  O.  E.,  18G9. 

Tlio  Pilgrim  Children.     With  Coloured  Platea,  1871. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress.     Excebiior  Toy  Book.     Seven  Colouiid  Plates. 


494  APPENDIX  III. 

Words  of  Life.  Picture  Cards  in  Monotone.  By  M.  Irwin.  "With  passages 
from  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  1884. 

OTHER  VERSIONS. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress.     First  Phonetic  Edition.     By  Alex.  J.  Ellis,  1849. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  in  the  Corresponding  Style  of  Phonography,  1876. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  for  the  Blind,  in  T.  M.  Lucas's  Embossed  Stenographic 
Characters.  Published  under  the  direction  of  the  London  Societj'  for  Teaching 
the  Blind  to  Eead.     Edited  by  J.  W.  Gowring,  B.A.     Two  vols.,  4to.     1860. 

EXPLANATIONS  OF  THE  "PILGRIM'S  PROGRESS." 

A  Key  to  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  in  a  Series  of  Letters.    By  Andronicus,  1790. 

Lectures,  illustrative  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  delivered  at  Haverfordwest. 
By  Daniel  Warr,  1825. 

Lectures  on  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.  By  "W.  Gurney,  M.A.,  Eector  of  St. 
Clement  Danes,  1833. 

Cottage  Lectures,  or  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  practically  explained.  By  C. 
Overton,  Vicar  of  Cottingham,  1848. 

A  Short  Exposition  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.     By  W.  J.,  1857. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  with  Expository  Lectures.     By  E,.  Maguire,  1859. 

Lectures  on  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.     By  G.  B.  Cheever,  New  York,  1844. 

A  Key  to  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.     By  E.  Davies,  1861. 

Evenings  with  John  Bunyan,  or  the  Dream  interpreted.     By  J.  Large,  1861. 

A  Description  of  the  Man  in  the  Iron  Cage.  By  W.  Odling,  of  Foot's  Cray,  1862. 

The  Christian  Life:  An  Exposition  of  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress.  By 
James  Black,  D.D.     Two  vols.,  1873. 

Personal  Experience :  being  Lectures  on  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress.  By 
W.  Haslam,  M.A.,  1877. 

Full  Salvation  as  seen  in  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress.  By  W.  Ilaslam,  M.A^ 
1884. 

Twenty  Plain  Lectures  on  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.  By  Robert  Nourse,  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  1878. 

A  Humble  Companion  to  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  ;  being  a  series  of  Discourses 
on  that  great  Allegory.     By  S.  Burn.     Huddersfield,  1884. 

The  People  of  the  Pilgrimage :  An  Expository  Stvidy  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress 
as  a  Book  of  Character.     By  J.  A.  KeiT  Bain,  1887. 

BIOGEAPHIES,  LECTURES,  &c. 

Autobiography.  Grace  Abounding  to  the  Chief  of  Sinners,  1C66,  and  Con- 
tinuation, 1692. 

Life  and  Actions  of  John  Bunyan,  1692. 

Life  of  John  Bunyan,  1700. 

A  Pi,e]ation  of  the  Imprisonment  of  Mr.  John  Bunyan,  1705. 

The  Life  of  John  Bunyan.     By  a  Fi-iend  of  the  Gospel,  17S7. 

The  Political  Sentiments  of  John  Banyan.     Republished  by  John  Martin,  173S. 

A  Life  of  Mr.  John  Bunyan.     By  Joseph  Ivimey,  1815. 

A  Life  of  John  Bunyan.     By  Robert  Southoy,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  1830. 

Articles  on  Southey"s  Life  of  Bunyan— (1)  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Qutrtcrly  liev.eti, 
October,  1830  ;   (2)  by  T.  B.  Macaulay,  Edinburgh  Review,  December,  1830. 

The  Life,  Times  and  Characteristics  of  John  Bunyan.     By  Robert  Philip,  1339. 

The  Bedfordshire  Tinker.     By  G.  E.  Sargent,  1848. 


ri:nsioxs,  lectures,  etc.  495 

Life  of  Bunyan.  By  James  Hamilton,  D.D.  "Works  of  Purilan  Divines,  1845, 
and  Our  Christian  Classics,  I80G. 

A  Brief  History  of  Banyan's  Church.     By  John  Jukos,  1849. 

John  Bunyan,  a  Biographical  Lecture.     By  C.  M.  Birrell,  1853. 

John  Bunyan.     A  Lecture.     By  W.  M.  Punshon,  18J7. 

Life  Studies.     John  Bunyan.     By  J.  Biillie,  1857. 

English  Puritiiuism.     John  Bunyan.     By  JohnTuUoch,  D.D.,  ISGl. 

John  Bunyan.     A  Biography.     By  Lord  Macaulay,  1833. 

Life  of  John  Bunyan.     By  George  Offor.  1862. 

Bunyaniana.     A  series  of  Papers  by  W.  Blower.     Bedford,  18G7. 

Bunyan,  his  Character,  Genius,  and  Influence.     By  W.  H.  Ibberson,  1871. 

Life  of  John  Bunj-an.     By  D.  A.  Harsha,  JLA.     Philadelphia,  1871. 

Johann  Bunyan,  ein  Lebensbild  von  Dr.  A.  Inimer,  Professor  der  Theologie 
in  Bern.     Basel,  1871. 

The  Book  of  the  Bunyan  Festival.     Edited  by  AV.  II.  Wylie,  1874. 

ITie  Hero  of  Elstow.     By  James  Copncr,  3I.A.,  Vicar  of  Elstow,  1874. 

Who  was  the  Author  of  the  Pilgi-im's  Progress  ?     By  AV.  Winters,  1874. 

The  Literary  Genius  of  Bunyan.     A  Lecture.     By  G.  J.  Holyoake,  1874. 

Saggi  Critici,  di  Bonaventura  Zumbiui — II  Viaggio  del  Pellegrino,  di 
Giovanni  Bunyan.     Xaples,  1876. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress.  By  Dean  Howson.  yt.  James'  Lectures.  Second 
•Series:  Companions  for  the  Devout  Life,  1876. 

The  Bunyan  Dooi-s  and  their  Associations.  A  Lecture  by  John  Stoughtou, 
D  D.     Delivered  at  the  Celebration  Service  at  Banyan  Meeting,  July  5,  1876. 

Slary  Bunyan,  the  Dreamer's  Blind  Daughter.  A  Tale,  By  Sallie  Rochester 
Ford.     [St.  Louis,  U.S.A.]     n.u. 

Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress  and  Intoxicating  Liquors.  Boston,  U.S.A., 
1877. 

John  Bunyan.  An  Autobiogra{ihy.  With  Illustrations  by  E.  K.  Downard, 
engraved  by  Edward  Whymper.     Religious  Tract  Society,     n.d. 

Xed  Bratts  [a  Dramatic  Idyl  of  Bedford  Jail  in  Bunyan's  time].  By  Robert 
Browning.     Dramatic  Id}  Is,  First  Series,  1879. 

English  Men  of  Letters— Bunyan.     By  J.  A.  Froude,  18S0. 

The  Lit-niry  Charm  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress.     By  David  Simo,  JI  D.,  1S80. 

Personal  Relics  and  Recent  Memorials  of  John  Bunyan  :  a  Paper  read  at  the 
Mating  of  the  Royal  Archajological  Institute  in  1881.      By  John  Brown,  B.A. 

The  Home  of  John  Bunyan  at  Elstow.  By  Canon  Venables,  Hutitrdnij 
lUrictc,  Sept.  17,  1881. 

John  Piunyaii.     A  Visit  to  Bedford  and  Elstow.     By  W.  Graham,  D.D.  1873. 

Was  John  Bunyan  a  Gipsy h     By  James  Simson,  New  York,  1882. 

The  Evangeliciil  Succession  Lectures,  1883.    Bunyan.    J3y  W.  R.  Nicoll,  M.A. 

Baptist  Worthies,  No.  3.     John  Bunyan.     By  William  Landwls,  D.D.,  1883. 

John  Bunyan — Esquisso  Biographiquo  et  Litteraire.  Par  J.  Alfred  Porrot, 
P;iHteur  ii  Lauuitune.     Lausanne,  1884. 

John  Bunyan  et  sea  demiera  Critiques.  Par.  M.  Marr-Monnier,  liibliotheiine 
I'liiiertellr,  I)t cembro,  18S.). 

John  Bunyan.     A  Memoir.     By  James  Copncr,  .M.A  ,  Nicar  of  Elstow,  18S.). 

'ihfl  Appoil  to  Man's  Soul.  A  Sermon  preached  in  ElHtow  Parish  Church  ut 
t)ie  Deiication  of  the  Bunyan  Mtmorial  Window,  Sent.  20th,  1885.  By  Paul 
W.  Wya'.t.  M.A. 

iiiognipbical  Iy,'cturofl.     By  Goorgo  Dawuoa,  M.A.     Bunyan,  1835. 


APPENDIX  IV. 


PERSONAL  EELICS  OF  BUNYAN. 

I.  In  the  custody  of  the  minister  of  Bunyan  Meeting:,  the  Manse,  Bedford, 
are  preserved : — 

(1.)  The  Church  Book,  containing  entries  in  Bunyan' s  handwriting. 

(2.)  Bunyan's  Will,  as  described  on  pp.  350-1. 

(3.)  Bunyan's  Cabinet  and  Staff,  formerly  in  the  possession  of  his  great- 
granddaughter,  Mrs.  Bithrey  of  Carlton,  and  acquired  by  the 
trustees  of  Bunyan  Meeting  through  the  widow  and  family  of  the 
Eev.  C.  Vorley.      Vide  pp.  320,  384. 

(4.)  Bunyan's  Jug.  Presented  to  the  trustees  by  Mrs.  Poore,  daughter  of 
the  Rev.  S.  Hillyard  of  Bedford.     Vide  p.  252. 

At  the  Manse  also  are  preserved  copies  of  the  various  editions  and  foreign 
versions  of  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress." 

II.  At  Bunyan  Meeting,  Bedford,  is  kept  Bunyan's  Chair,  which  has  been 
handed  on  in  the  vestry  from  his  own  times.  In  the  same  vestry  also  is  an 
i  riteresting  relic  of  Bedford  county  gaol ;  this  is  a  door  with  iron  cross-bars  in 
the  centre,  and  made  of  three  layers  of  oak  laid  transversely,  fastened  together 
by  iron  bolts.  It  was  purchased  with  other  materials  at  the  taking  down  of  the 
gaol,  in  1801,  by  Mr.  Wm.  Berrill  of  Bedford,  and  after  being  used  for  many 
years  as  the  door  of  a  building  on  the  Fenlake  Road,  was  presented  to  the 
trustees  by  T.  Gwyn  E.  Elger,  Esq.,  J. P.  It  was  always  traditionally  spoken  of 
as  the  door  of  Bunyan's  cell,  but  was  more  probably  the  door  of  the  common 
day-room  of  the  prisoners.  The  lintel,  posts,  and  sill  also  are  part  of  the 
original  doorway. 

III.  In  the  library  of  the  Literary  and  Scientific  Institute,  Harpur  Street, 
Bedford,  is  preserved  Bunyan's  copy,  in  three  volumes,  folio,  of  Foxe's  "Book  of 
Martyrs."     Vide  p.  163. 

IV.  In  the  Record  Office,  Fetter  Lane,  London,  in  a  bundle  of  papers  belong- 
ing to  the  year  1672,  is  the  application,  in  Bunyan's  handwriting,  for  licences  to 
preach,  described  on  pp.  232-3. 

V.  The  Warrant  for  Bunyan's  arrest  in  1675,  which  is  described  in  the  preface 
to  this  edition,  is  in  the  possession  of  W.  G.  Thorpe,  Esq.,  F.Gr.S.,  of  the  Middle 
Temple  and  Gloucester  House,  Laikhall  Rise,  S.W. 


INDEX. 


Abbot,  Sir  Richard,  3G1 

Abbot's  Leigh,  90 

Abercrombic,  Cipt.,  50 

Abney,  I^idy,  383 

Acceptable  Sacrifice,  The,  3SS 

Act  Books,  Archdeaconry  of  Bedford,  3, 

4,  6,31,  213,242 
Act    Books,  Bedford  Corporation,    103, 

230,  258,  329,  330,  332,  365,  367 
Adairs,  Thomas,  8 
Addison,  478 

Additional  MSS.,  44,  72,  103.  241 
Administration  of  Bunyan's  Estate,  401 
Advocate,  Jesus  Christ  as  an,  375 
Aikin,  John, 147,  419 
Aikin,  Lucv,  419 
Ailesburv,  Earl  of,  132,   305,  322,  328, 

330,  331,  334,  344,  360,  367 
Ailmer,  John,  73 
Albini,  Nigel  de,  22 
Alfn(,on,  3 
Alliiis,  Collin,  22 
Allerson,  William,  37 
Alliott,  William,  424 
Allon,  Dr.,  4S0 
Almaric,  St.  Amand,  23 
Alsop,  Benjn.,  340,  341 
Ampthill,  7,  H,   11,   15,  31,  44,  47,  72, 

100,  111,  132,  136,  148,  213,  225,  226, 

334,  335 
Angier,  Daniel,  120,  122 
Anglesey,  Karl  of,  145 
Angl<  .wy.  CoHntc8.s  of,  383 
AniiatcK  Jfoiia.itici,  22,  23 
Annand,  NVm.,  135 
Annecley,  Dr.  Sam.,  145 
Annesley,  Lady  Anne,  145 
AiitiehrUt  and  His  Jiiiine,  440 
Arclidoacoim"  Courts,  3,  0 
Arch"  r,  Dr.,  72 
Archer,  'i'homnH,  37,  152 
Arbw^y,  I'JG 
Arthur,  Th..H.,  220 
Artidew  of  U'ivernm<nt,  90 
Arundel,  Eurlfi  of,  22 
Aflhburnhiim  MSS.,  45 
AHhloy,  (Jilbert.  232,  407 
Aiihniolcaii  (Jolloction,  335,  381 
Aiihtod,  Sir  Edward,  44 
Ashur-t,  Mr.,  I'JO,  214 
AnhwclJ,  249 


Asploy  Guise,  114 

Assize  of  beer  and  bread,  27 

Assize  Rolls,  22,  23,  24 

Associated  Counties,  43 

Audc\-,  Mr.,  224 

Audley,  Robt.,  43,  328,  331,  36  J 

Augmentations,  Court  oi,  27 

Austen,  Lady,  420 

Aylesbury,  10,  11,  50,  112 

Baddow,  Little,  164 

Badman,  Life  and  Death  of  Mr.,  50,  273, 

316,  317.  318,  321 
Bagford,  Mr.,  372 
Baidock,  243,  250 
Bannister,  Dr.  Francis,  44,  85,  87 
Barbauld,  Mrs.,  147,  419 
Barber,  Ju.stice,  108,  192 
Barbon,  Dr.  Nicholas,  332 
Baidolph,  John,  218,  351 
Bardwood,  James,  448 
Barford,  Little,  6,  71 
B  irkwood.  Lord,  157 
Barlow,  Bishop,  255,  256,  262,  335,  369 
Barnard,  Fred.,  4(J4 
Barren  Fif)  Tree,  333 
Barrett.  Richard,  4 
Barton  Ilills,  136 
Baxter,  Richard,  80,  348 
Bayly,  Bishop,  54 
Beaumont,  Agnes,  241 
Beckring's  Park,  7,  111 
Bedford    Cliunh,   66,   69,    80,   85,    101, 

104,  120,  126,  147,  167,  170,  192,  196, 

202,  204,  218,  226,  230,  235,  254,  259, 

312.  343,  367,  .190,  403,  413.  426 
Bedford,  Corporation  of,  85,  87,  91,  97, 

102,  328,  329,  362,  365 
Bedford,  Duko  of,  147,  196,  425,  480 
Bedford,  ICirl  of,  3,  43,  47 
Bedford    (Jaol,    1,    135,    143,    118,    100, 

162,  16(i,  1H4,  1S8,  254,  259,  .60 
Bedford  (immiiiar  School,  41 
Bedford,  Now  CImrtcr  (jf,  331 
Bedford,  Samuel,  89,  1 10 
lioiiford.  Town  of,  6,  10.  48.  81,  97,  109, 

110,  147.  149,  156,  161,  192,  218,  226, 

259,  2(;0,  303,  381 
Bodlnrd.  William.  120 
BedfoidMhin-,   Addreascs  from,    15,   107, 

130,  131,  320 


K  K 


498 


INDEX. 


Bedfordshire  Elections,  15,  194,  304 
Bedfordshire  Justices,  135,  151,  335 
Bedfordshire  Nonconformists,  213,  215, 

217,  303 
Bedfordshire  Notes,  327,  332 
Bedfordshire  Wills,  2,  32,  35,  302,  401, 

402 
Beecher,  Sir  W.,  150,  151,  193,  305 
Belsham  Family,  41G,  418,  419 
Bel  verge  Family,  140 
Bendish,  Mrs.,  383 
Bennett,  C.  H.,  464 
Bennett,  Margaret,  4 
Bentley,  IMargaret,  33 
Bentley,  Will  of  Mary,  35 
Bewick,  Thomas,  462 
Biddenham,  346 
Bird,  John,  72,  73 
Bird,  Henry,  31 
Bithrey,  Charles,  407 
Bithrej',  Madam,  408 
Blagravc,  Wm.,  196 
Blare,  Joseph,  40,  447,  472 
Bletsoe,  15,  47 
Blower,  William,  160,  372 
Bhmdell,  Sir  Geo.,  150,   151,  193,  221, 

360 
Boddington,  Nicholas,  457 
Boehm,  J.  E.,  480 
Boekholt,  Joannes,  456,  457 
Bolingbroke,  Earl  of,  47,  78,  89 
Bolnhurst,  217 
Bonyon's  End,  27,  28,  39 
Bonyon,  Robt.,  2 
Bonyon,  Thos.,  27 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  15,  74 
Book  of  Fines,  93 
Bow  Brickhill,  11 
Bowles,  Oliver,  70 
Bradshaw,  John,  14,  71,  204,  214 
Bradyl,  Thos  ,  458 
Breda,  Declaration  from,  141,  194 
Brent,  Sir  Nathaniel,  10,  11 
Brightman,  Thos.,  8 
Bristol,  Earl  of,  201 
Brock,  Dr.,  480 
Bromham,  13,  45 
Bromsall,  Ralph,  361 
Bromsall,  Thos.,  187.  360 
Browne,  Gordon,  4C3 
Browns  of  Carlton,  409 
Brown,  Samuel,  132,  196 
Brown  University,  422 
Bruce,  Lord,    132,   194,  304,  305,    322, 

329,  334,  343,  358 
Buhb,  John, 160 
Buckinghamshire,  232 
Buckley,  J.  C,  18,  20 
Bulkeley,  Peter,  9,  10,  11 
Bull,  William,  416,  422 
Bunhill  Fields,  392 


Bunyan  Family  in  Bedfordshire,  22 
Bunyan's  Grandfather,  31 

Father,  31,  33,  34,  301 

Mother,  33,  35,  41 
Bunyan,  John,  Birth  of,  36 

In  the  army,  42,  52 

]\Iarriage,  53 

Spiritual  Struggles,  58 

Joins  Bedford  Church,  96 

Removal  fromElstow  to  Bedford,  97 

Controversies  with  Quakers,  111 

Preaching  Experiences,  116 

Preaching  in  Yelden  Church,  125 

Arrested  at  Samsell,  136 

Before  the  Justices,  140,  150 

Twelve  Years'  Imprisonment,  160 

His  release,  187 

Chosen  Pastor  of  the  Church,  228 

Controversy  on  Baptism,  239 

Imprisonment  on   Bedford  Bridge, 
254 

Fmal  release  from  prison,  262 

His  Deed  of  Gift,  350 

Last  Journey  to  London,  381 

His  last  Sermon,  388 

His  Death,  390 

His  Descendants  and  Successors,  397 
Bunyan's  Cabinet  and  Staff,  320,  496 

Chair,  231,  496 

Dell,  251 
Bunyan  Celebration,  480 

Doors,  425 
Bunyan,  Elizabeth,  156,  350 

Hannah,  403,  442 

John,  jun.,  402 

Lawrence,  215,  226 

Sarah,  407 
Bunyans  of  Lincoln,  405,  406 

of  Nottingham,  40G 
Burgoyne,  Sir  John,  15,  131 
Burrough,  Edward,  112 
Burton,  John,  103,  113,  197 
Bushmeade,  43,  48 
Butler,  Samuel,  46 
Butler,  William,  346 
Bynion,  Edward,  46 
Bynnion,  Sir  Geo.,  44 

Cainhoe  Castle,  22 

Cambridge,  120,  122,  224,  232,  249 

Cardington,  15,  27,  29,  86,  89,  150,  196, 

221 
Carlton,  7,  8,  12,  72 
Cartwright,  Thomas,  76 
Cane  of  Conscience  Resolved,  339 
Cater,  Edward,  89,  109 
Cauldwell  Abbey,  98 
Caution  against  Sin,  340 
Cayson,  Sir  Henry,  48 
Chaigrave,  2,  23,  43,  71 
Chandler,  Ebenezer,  230,  251,  410 


1 


IXDEX. 


499 


Chapel  of  Heme,  149,  156 

Charles  I.,  14,  78,  129 

Chester,  yir  H.,  150,  156,  193 

Chemin  de  Viiillattce,  286 

Chicksand,  43 

Child,  J.'hn,  113 

Chiswiek  I'ress,  463 

Christ,  A  Compleat  Saviour,  437 

Christ  an  Advocate,  375 

Christian  liehaviour,  175 

Christv,  Thomas,  192,  332,  346,  360 

Church,  Dean,  291,  294 

Clarendon,  Drd,  43,  134,  160,  184 

Clarke,  Daniel,  12 

Clarke,  Sir  Francis,  41 

Clapham,  43,  72,  74 

Clenncll,  L..  200,  203,  462 

Cleveland,  Earl  of,  43,  82 

Cobb,  Paul,  154,  155,  329,  330,  346 

Cobham,  Lord,  28 

Cockayne,  George,  382,  387 

Cockayne  Hatley,  13 

Cockayne,  Richard,  49 

Collin's  Charity,  367 

Come  and  Welcome  to  Jesus  Christ,  308 

Commissary's  Court,  3,  215 

Committee  for  ilinisters,  73 

Communion  Table,  13 

Concord,  Mass.,  11 

Conder,  Claude  Reigiiier,  464 

Confession  of  my  Faith,  239 

Conventicle  Act,  203,  217,  223 

Cople  Wood  End,  15,  45 

Gotten  End,  51,  197,  221,  263 

Cotton,  Sir  John,  360 

Country  Hhymes,  355 

Courcy,  Jean  de,  286 

Court  of  Probate,  33 

Covenant,  Solemn  League  and,  44 

Cowper  the  Poet,  416,  477 

Coxe,  IJcnjamin,  280 

Crantitld,  Thfs.,  31 

Crawley,  Sir  Francis,  43 

Crompton,  Justice,  148,  229 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  45,  88,   106,  109,  110, 

120,  203,  280 
Cromwell.  Richard,  89,  110,  130 
Crook,  John.  101,  HI,  112,  216 
Crowloy,  Theodore,  71,  88,  103 
Cruikahank,  George,  465 

Dallow  Farm,  250 
Danby,  E;irl  of,  304 
Ilanby  AiliiiiniMtratiun,  256 
Dante,  291- 
DanverH,  Paul,  235 
Deano,  70,  I'JO,  2';3 
Dofw;,  Danifl,  304 
I)elinqu<-ntH,  KHtiites  of,  44 
DcU.  William,  7H,  102,  107 
HtUct  H'orki  of,  80 


Dennc,  Henry,  123 

Dent,  Arthur,  54,  316 

De  Parys,  Robt.,  87 

D««borough,  Colonel,  383 

Desires  of  the  liiyhteotis  granted,  385,  434 

Di'wsbury,  Win.,  Ill 

Dior,  Sir  Lodovick,  44 

Jjijhrence   in  Judgmcnl  on    Water  Bap- 

tisii:,  241 
Dillingham,  Thomas,  70 
Dilly,  E.,  356 
Directory  of  Discipline,  70 
J)irt  If'ipt  of,  234 
Dieitic  Emblems,  355 
Discourse  of  the  House  of  God,  376 
Doctrine  of  the  Law  and  Grace,  125 
Doddridge,  Philip.  146 
Doe,  Charles,   122,   161,   187,  273,  385, 

427,  442 
Donne,  John,  102,   107,   109,   170,  190, 

217 
Douglas,  Gawin,  280 
Dunbar,  William,  286 
Duncombo,  Richard,  142 
Dungey  Wood,  48 
Dunstable,  11,  23,43,214,  250 
1  )un.stable  Chronicle,  22 
Dunlon,  John,  263,  448 
Dyve,  Sir  Lewis,  44,  47 

Karnes,  J.,  415 

Eaton  Socon,  2,  43 

Kbal  and  Gerizim,  176 

Ecclesiastical  Offences,  5 

E.lgehill,  Rattle  of,  47 

Edworth,  217,  241 

Egerton  SISS.,  45 

Ellensbury  Wood,  33 

Ellis  Correspondence,  283 

Elstow,  6,  18,  20,  22,  31,  32,  39,  43,  67, 

85,96,    100,   101,  148,   181,   229,  238, 

270,  270,  298,  301,  302,  316 
Elsl.nv,  Court  Roll  of  Manor,  25,  26,  27 
Emerson.  R.  W.,  11 
Emery,  Mrs.,  420 
Englishry,  Prc-^ontmont  of,  24 
Eniiis,  (JapUiin,  60,  52 
Kston,  John,  81,81,  86,  89,  104.  109 
Eston,  John,  jun.,  302,  304,  366 
Example  of  t'crtu,  280 
Exhortation  to  I'eace  and  Unity,  446 
Exposition  of  Genesis,  429 

Fairfax,  Lord  (;oneral,  42,  46,  82 

Farmery,  Dr.,  9,  10 

Farndish,  214 

Eear  i>f  (lod.  On  the,  310 

Fenn,'  John,  170,  187,  197,  210,  218,  225, 

2.(0,  300 
Fenn,  Samuel.  170,  210,  230,  410 
Fines,  Edward  II.,  25 


500 


INDEX. 


Fires  in  Bedford,  381 

Fisher,  Jasper,  8 

Fishers,  The,  408 

Fleetwood,  Lord  Charles,  383 

Flitton,  72 

FUtwick,  139 

Foster,   Dr.  William,  74,  144,  193,  213, 

214,  215,  218,  220,  225,  329,  361 
Fowler,  Edward,  186,  196,  233,  369 
Fox,  George,  7,  112,  166,  193 
Franklyn,  Edward,  215 
Frankl>Ti,  Sir  W.  F.,  305 
Frankpledge,  View  of,  18,  25,  26 
Freehodv,  Andi-ew,  328 
Froude,"J.  A.,  42,  59,  164,  319 
FuEer,  i\jidrew,  423 

Gamlingay,  197,  242,  249,  401 

Gardner,  Sir  Edmund,  192,  216,  361,  363 

Gascoign,  Geo.,  30 

Gascoign,  Sir  John,  30 

Genesis,  Uxposition  of,  429 

Gery,  Wm.  and  Geo.,  43,  48 

Gibbs,  John,  102,  119 

Gifford,  John,  42,  81,  82,  84,  88,  90,  93, 

95,  102,  104,  119,  235,  238,  351 
Gilbert,  Sir  John,  463 
Gilpin,  Joshua,  476 
Glidall,  John,  4 
Gnostic,  An  English,  414 
Godefroy's  Dictionnaire,  22 
Godmanchester.  79 
Golden  Terge,  286 
Goldington,  6,  407 
Goldsmiths'  HaU,  44 
Gospel  Truths  Opened,  450 
Do.  Vindication  of,  115 
Gostwick,  Sir  W.,  361 
Grace  Abounding,    179,    181,    183,    227, 

230,  244,  264 
Grafton  House,  50 
Grainger,  478 
Greatness  of  the  Soul,  339 
Grewe,  John,  74,  81,  84,  85,  87,  89,  102, 

235 
Grigg,  Michael,  43 
Gwin,  John,  71,  72 

Hackney,  343 

Hagable  Kents,  230 

Hale,  Sir  Matthew,  131,  156,  157,  158 

Hale's  Precedents  and  Proceedings,  6 

Hall,  Christopher,  49 

Hall,  Robert,  423 

Hammond,  Dr.,  72 

Hanaper,  Clerk  of  the,  332 

Hare  Court  Church,  387 

Hare  Court,  Story  of,  315 

Harleian  MSS.,  41,  97 

Haroden  Sharpe  Fold,  27 

Harpur,  Sir  Wm.,  40 


Harrington,  Anthony,  14,  81,  84,  86 

Harris,  John,  353 

Harrold,  48 

Harrowden,  24,  28,  34 

Harlington,  43,  74,   136,  139,  140,  145, 
148 

Hartnell,  Jasper,  8 

Hartop,  Sir  John,  255,  349 

Harve}',  John,  15,  89 

Hawes,  Stephen,  286 

Hawkes,  William,  93,  351,  366 

Hawnes,  8,  11,  43,  72,  73,  97,  200 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  475 

Hayes,  Thomas,  102,  103 

Hearne,  Thomas,  372,  478 

Hearth  Tax  EoU,  97,  371 

Heart's  Ease  in  Heart's  Trouble,  448 

Heavenly  Footman,  The,  237 

Hemel  Hempstead,  250 

Henlow,  89,  110 

Henry  II.,  269 

Henry  IV.,  140 

Henry  VIII.,  Letters  and  Papers,  22 

Henry,  Philip,  194 

Hensman,  Saml.,  230 

Heptinstall,  Thomas,  462 

Herbert,  George,  288 

Hertfordshire,  232,  241,  249,  250,  251 

Higham  Ferrers,  76 

High  Commission  Court,  14,  71 

Hill,  Nathaniel,  72,  73 

Hillersdon,  Sir  Thomas,  20 

Hillesdon  House,  50 

HiUyard,  Samuel,  422 

Hinchinbrook,  9 

Hinde,  Captain,  251 

Historical  MSS.  Eeports,  13 

Historical  Notices,  16,  47 

Hitchin,   140,  142,  212,   225,  244,  250, 

414 
IIockliflFe,  47 
Hogg,  Alex.,  356 
Holcroft,  Francis,  225 
Hollis,  Lord,  151 
Holman  Hunt,  W.,  463 
Holy  City,  The,  176,  178 
Holy   Life   the   Beauty   of   Christianity, 

340 
Holy  War,  The,  321—326,  329 
Homagers,  25 

Honeylove,  Thomas,  216,  220 
Hotten,  J.  Camden,  171 
Houghton  Conquest,  37,  41,  43,  71,  72, 

73,  157,  196 
Houghton  Regis,  217,  250 
House  of  Lords'  MSS.,   12,   13,  14,  41, 

124 
House  of  the  Forest  of  Lebanon,  439 
Howard  Chapel,  421 
Howe,  John,  336,  344,  348 
Hudibras,  Butler's,  45,  4G 


IM)FX. 


501 


Hulcote.  346 
Huntingdon,  79 

Imitations  of  *'  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  472 
Instruction  for  the  Jguorant,  254,  30o 
Imprisonment,  A  relation  of  the,  442 
Ipswich,  112 
Israel's  Hope  Encouraged,  432 

Jacques,  Margerie,  36 

James  I.,  9 

Jeffreys,  Judge,  348 

Jennings  Family,  146,  147.  418 

Jerusalem  Sinner  Saved,  373 

Johnson,  John  Bunyan,  4u9 

Jones,  Iniffo,  21 

Jukes,  John,  424 

Jung-Stilling,  469 

Juratores,  2o 

Justiciaries  at  Bedford,  22 

Justification  by  Faith,  185,  233,  430 

Justification  by  Imputed Righteoitsmss,  430 

Kellie,  John,  35,  36 
Kelvnge,  Sir  John,  150,  193 
Kempston,  4,  32,  44,  89,  109 
Kennett,  Rich.,  196 
Kensworth,  250 
Kent,  Earl  of,  3,  47 
Kevsoe,  7,  10,  161,  170,  216 
Kibworth,  146 
Kiftin,  Wm.,  235 
Kifford,  Richard,  13 
Kilpin,  Thomas,  251) 
Kimbolton,  78,  230 

Lord.  47 
Einge,  Gilef,  72,  75 
Kingslf y,  Charhs,  464 
Kinwclmersh,  30 
Knotting,  7 

Lambc,  iSir  John,  12 

Lambeth  11 SS.,  7,  9,  89,  103 

Lane.  Mr.,  243 

Laney,  Bishop,  196 

I^ngbind,  "\Vm.,  283 

Ix'irkin,  George,  181,  377 

Laud,  Archbiabop,  9,  iO,  11,  1 1,  74,  80, 

86 
Iaw  and  Grace  unfolded,  125 
I/ticehter,  70.  233,  343 
IjCUfhU-.T,  Kicgo  of,  5 1 
Leighton  Buzziird,  11,  44,  72,  135 
Ijcnnox  Library,  4  53,  400 
I>;  Stning.-,  \i>>K>T,  182,  183 
Lidlington,  7.  150,  151. 
Light  for  them  that  tit  in  Darlnet»,  241 
Lindall,  Wm.,  73,  74,  142,  14.3,  253 
Linton,  .Sir  J.  D  .  404 
LiviaKjy,  Sir  Muluiel,  133 
Liviuj,  George,  352 


Long  Parliament  74,  76 
Lords'  MSS.,  12,  13,  14,  41,  124 
Love,  "NVm.,  257 
Luke,  Sir  Oliver.  15,  46,  131 
Luke,  tSir  Samuel,  15,45,  49,  132 
Luther's  Comnienfcjry,  66 
Luton,  7,  43.  44,  72,  250 
Luttrell,  Narcissus,  340 
Lyndsay,  Sir  David,  283,  286 

JIabbison,  James,  89,  100 
Macauluy,  Lord,  42,  58.  299 
MacDonald,  George,  477 
lladagasear  Christians,  409 
Maids  Moreton,  238 
Maidstone,  82 
Map  of  Salvation,  429 
Margetts,  Thos.,  74 
Blargetts,  Wm.,  362,  363 
Martin,  Edward,  71,  72,  73 
Martin,  John,  462 
i\Iather,  Cotton,  11 
Maulden,  78,  214 
Maydenbury,  William  de,  24 
Medbury,  39 
Melchbourae,  71,  73 
Meldreth,  224 

Memories  of  Seventy  Years,  176 
Mepershall,  72 
Merchant's  Lecture,  3S3 
Mercurins  Publicus,  'i't 
Mercuriiis  Rusticus,  Al 
Morrill,  Humphrey,  206 
Jliddlesex,  Earls  of,  102 
I^Iidwinter,  Edward,  447 
I\lillbrook,  72,  132,  1.50,  152 
Miliington,  Wm.,  190 
Milton  Emys,  7,  196 
Milton,  John,  101,  ,'{01 
Milton  Papers,  101 
Monmouth,  Duke  of,  317 
M.jiioux,  Sir  H.,  305 
Moiitgouiory,  James,  102 
Moore,  Pulham,  45 
Mordaunts  of  Turvev,  2,  363 
Morrii  e's  Entrj'  Book,  328,  343 
Morton,  Sir  W.,  106 

Nagill,  Jiimes,  1 11 

Najiier,  Sir  Itobort,  44 

Naseby,  Battle  of,  42,  43 

Nealo,  J.  M.,  470 

Negative  Oatli,  44 

Negus,  (;i)I  .nl,  93 

Nelson,  l:.,b.  It.  -JOS 

Netlierlandi  I'mtesliinl*,  3 

Newman,  Dc.rmau,  32J,  375 

Newport  I'agnol,  46,    49,  50,    102,  113, 

119,  269 
Newton,  John,  420 
Nicholls,  Wm  ,  360 


502 


INDEX. 


Nonconformity  in  Hertfordshire,  250 
Norman,  Lewes,  351 
Northamptonshire,  Certificate  from,  8 
NorthiU,  43,  186,  196,  214,  217,  233,361 
Notes  and  Queries,  407 

Odell,  7,  10 

Offor,  Mr.  George,  101,  119,  308 

Okey,  Colonel  John,  109,  133 

Olney,  12,  109 

Orange,  Prince  of,  395 

Orlebar,  Richard,  361, 

Osborn,  John,  361 

Osborn,  Sir  Peter,  43 

Owen,  Dr.  John,  145, 146,  255,  263, 382, 

383,  395 
Oxford,  Articles  of,  44 
Oxford,  (Surrender  at,  43 

Falace  of  Honour,  286 

Palmer,  Samuel,  416,  442 

Fanem  Qnotidianum,  135 

Papworth,  E.  C,  480 

Pare,  Mr.,  108 

Parish  Registers  in  England,  239 

Parliament,  Scottish,  346 

Parrcter,  William,  72 

Parry,  William,  164 

Pastime  of  Pleasure,  286 

Patrick's  Parable  of  the  Pilgrim,  287 

Paul's,  St.,  Bedford,  8,  13,  14 

PanVs  Departure  and  Crown,  431 

Paul's  Walden,  225 

Pavenham,  7,  113,217 

Payne,  Robert,  71 

Peaceable  Principles  and  True,  241 

Pepys'  Diary,  133,  203 

Perfect  Diurnall,  48 

Perriam,  Roger,  4 

Parrot,  Robert,  196,  263 

Pertenhall,  6,  102,  107,  179,  196,  216 

Pesselynton,  26,  29,  39 

Peterborough,  Earl  of,  363,  365 

Pharisee  and  Publican,  353 

Pilgrim's  Progress — 

When  and  where  written,  253,  258, 
260,  262 

Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  264 

Analysis  of,  267—272 

Second  Part,  275—281 

Place  in  Literature,  283 

Earlier  Allegories,  285—289 

Originality,  289 

Compared   with    the    Divina    Corn- 
media,  291 

Its  Spontaneousness,  293 

Its  Dramatic  Unity,  294 

Its  power  of  Character  Drawing,  295 

Its  Homeliness  and  Humour,  796 

Its    Comprehensiveness    and   Uni- 
versality, 299 


Pilgrim's  Progress  (continued) — 

Early  Editions,  454,  464 

Dutch  Editions,  456 

Pirated  Editions,  458 

Illustrated  Editions,  459—464 

Edition  de  Luxe,  464 

Country  Editions,  465 

Cheap  Editions,  465 

American  Editions,  466 

Foreign  Versions,  467—472,  483—6 

Imitations,  472 — 475 

Its  reception  in  Literature,   477 — 
479 
Pinner's  Hall,  382 
Pinney,  Anne,  33 
Piozzi,  Madame,  478 
Plain  Man's  Pathway  to  Heaven,  54,  316 
Plumptre,  Dr.,  479 
Plundered  Ministers,  70,  72 
Pocklington,  Dr.,  15,  71,  73,  74,  78 
Poddington,  7,  133 
Pole,  Cardinal,  28 
Ponder,  Nathaniel,  262,  263,  264,  266, 

273,  275,  310,  3l6,  455 
Potts,  Spencer,  43 
Practice  of  Piety,  54 
Praying  in  the  Spirit,  172 
Presbyter ianism,  57,  70,  76,  134,  141 
Preston  Castle,  251 
Prison  Meditations,  176,  179 
Privy  Council,  28,  365 
Profitable  Meditations,  171 
Progress  of  Christian  Pilgrim,  40 
Pulloxhill,  22,  139,  213 

Quakers,  The,  112,  114,  123,  151,  236, 

238 
Quaker  Disarmed,  The,  123 
Quaker  no  Papist,  The,  123 
Quarles,  Francis,  288 

RadcUffe,  SirH.,  20,  25 

lUmsay,  Wm.,  72,  73 

Ravens,  Rose,  31 

Ravensden,  89 

Rawlinson  MSS.,  360,  362,  363 

Reading,  112,  386 

Records,  Lancashire  and  Cheshire,  44 

Reeve,  Hugh,  15,  72,  73 

Regicides  in  Bedfordshire,  133 

Registers,  Transcript,  31 

Renhold,  6,  72,  73 

Reprobation  Asserted,  244 

Rest  for  a  Wearied  Soul,  448 

Rich,  Daniel,  220 

Richard  de  Morin,  Prior,  22,  23 

Riches  of  Christ,  The,  448 

Ridgmount,  120 

Riseley,  6 

Robert  atte  Felde,  24 

Resurrection  of  the  Dead,  176,  178 


JND£X. 


503 


Robinson,  Eobert,  422 

Rochester,  82,  133 

Rolt,  Edward,  19G 

xtogers,  John,  29 

Root -and- Branch  Party,  69 

Roubillac,  222 

Royalists,  Bedfordshire,  43,  44,  73,  82 

Royalist  Composition  Papers,  44,  48 

Rovston,  120,  224,  250 

Roxton.  89.  196 

Ruflhead,  JosiaM.  229,  230,  232 

Russell,  Edward.  43.  370 
Ladv  Rachel,  19G,  333 
Lord  William,  19G,  333,  334 

Rush,  John  and  Tabitha.  188,  192,  247 

Rushworth's  Historical  Collections,  48 

Ryland,  John,  245 

Saint's  Knoirledgc  of  Christ's  Love,  438 

Sai»t's  Frivilcge  and  Profit,  405 

Saint's  Triumph,  40,  447 

Saqgi  Critici,  291 

Sait  Museum  ilSS.,  303 

Sambrooke,  Mr.,  332 

Samsell,  333 

Sanderson,  Bishop,  135 

Sanderson,  Samuel,  147,  259,  415 

Sandbridge,  2.50 

Sandy,  71,  72 

Sandwich,  82 

Savage,  Edward,  72,  73 

Saved  by  Grace,  305,  307 

Scandalous  Jlinibtors,  70 

Schiller,  408 

Scottish  Expedition,  74 

Scott,  R.S.A.,  David,  4(33 

Scott,  Thomas,  420 

Scriptural  Poems,  38,  40 

Seatouable  Counsel,  343 

Solomon's  Temple  Spiritualized,  373,  378 

Serious  Meditations,  170 

SequcstrationB,  Amount  of,  44 

Seventh  Day  Sabbath,  353 

Shakr-speare.  William,  7 

Sharman,  John,  7 

Shamlrook,  G 

Sharp<  nhoe,  HO 

Sheflord,  225 

Sheilds.  F.  J.,  464 

Sheldon,  Archbishop,  72,  215,  303 

Sheiton.  G 

Shr-ppard"s  Enpnivin^'",   100 

Sheppard,  llannan,  7 

Shirley.  Mr..  11 

Shorter,  Sir  John,  383,  381,  395 

Si'jhtfrom  Hell,  118 

Sil*M.",  148 

Sim-,  David.  300 

Sk'lton,  John,  280 

Sk'.vinnton.  Anne,  4 

Socii-t^  do  Sorbonne,  407 


Socmen.  25 

Southev,  272,  287 

Southill,  44,  89,  150 

Speeres,  Gcorsrc.  72,  7G 

Sponsor,  286.  289,  290,  294,  295,  297 

Stagsden,  213 

St.  Albans,  250,  409 

Stanbridi^e,  44 

Stanburgh, 23 

Stanley,  Dean,  480,  481 

Stanley,  Lady  Augusta,  334,  480,  481 

Star  Chambci-,  16 

State  of  Prisons,  163,  166 

State  Papers,  7,  10,  15,  74,   89,  90,  97, 

109,  110 
Staughton,  72 
St.  Cuthbcrt's.  Bedford,  48,  74,  75,  98 

186,  220,  238,  239 
Stevington,  7,  12 
Stillingfleet.  Edward,  196 
St.  John's,  Bedford,  71,  91 
St.  John,  Lord,  47,  48,  175 
St.  John,  Sir  Beaucbarap,  15 
St.  John,  Sir  Owen,  10 
St.  John,  W.  Paulet,  305 
St.  Leonard's  Leper  Hospital,  98 
St.  Mary's,  Bedlord,  71,  74,  75,  260 
Stondon,  13 

Stothard,  Thomas,  393,  401 
St.  Paul's,  Bedford,   13,  (14.  85,  86,  93, 

97,  113,  184,204.  21S,  235 
Strait  Gate,  The,  262,  305,  307 
Sturhridgo  Fair,  270 
Subsidies,  302 
Sundon,  74.  217 
Swinton,  Wm.,  225 
Swyneshead,  73 
Symmes,  Zachary,  1 1 

Taino,  M.,  292 

Tarbutt,  Wm.,  113,  175 

Taylor,  Isaac,  462 

Taylor,  Richard,  43,  194 

Taylor,  Wm.,  43 

Tumpsford,  72,  75 

Tenison  MSS..  216 

Tha.kcrav.  W.  M..  179 

Thornc.  Ciiles,  48.  71,  84 

Thornton,  John,  4  20 

Thorowgood,  Henry,  214 

TliorowgofKl,  Oliver,  72,  73 

Thrup]t,  Frederick,  425 

ThurleJKh,  44.  89 

Thurioe,  S.cntarv,  108,  110 

Tilhrook.  72,  73,  i'JG 

Tiln.v.  Mi.stroHH.  237 

Tilaworth,  72,  151,  250 

Tingr.lh,  72,  73 

To(ldin:,'ton.  15,  43,  167,  221,  317,  348 

T..ft,  120,  122 

Toller,  Thomas,  423 


504 


INDEX. 


Thomason,  125 
Tookey,  R.,  356 
Toplady,  Augustus,  422 
Totternhoe,  23 
Townsend,  Canon,  461 
Travayle,  John,  22 
Truro,  43 

Turner,  R.A.,  J.  M.  W.,  462 
Turvey,  4,  225,  226 
Turvey,  the  Tinker  of,  34,  43 
Turviter,  Wm.,  23 

Upton,  Charles,  44 

Urrey,  Colonel,  48 

Urwick's  Nonconformity  in  Herts,  250 

Uxbridge,  343 

Valenciennes,  3 

Vane,  Sir  Harry,  150 

Varney,  WiUiam,  41 

Venner  Insurrection,  165,  182,  193,  194 

Ventriss,  Charles,  44 

Ventriss,  John,  361 

Vere,  Warden,  264 

Verney  MSS.,  305 

Verney,  Sir  R.,  304 

Versions,  Foreign,  467,  489 

Vincent,  Nathaniel,  343 

Visions  of  John  Buni/an,  448 

Vorley,  Charles,  408 

Wainwood,  251 

Wake,  Sir  W.,  419 

Wale,  Miles,  328 

Walker's  Sufferings  of  the  Clergy,  71 

Walker,  Walter,  14,'  33,  80 

Wallingford  House,  131 

Wallington,  Nehemiah,  16,  47 

Walloon  Version,  467 

Walpole,  Cyesar,  0 

Wrtlpole,  Horace,  478 

AValsall,  Francis,  71 

Warden,  43 

Warren,  John,  71 

Warwick,  Sir  Philip,  72 

Water  of  Life,  377 

Waters,  Anthony,  72 

Waters,  Henry,  7 

Wafson,  I'llizabeth,  32 

Watson,  J.  D.,  464 

Webster,  Wm.,  286 

AVellingborough,  76,  109 

Wells,  Thomns,  12 

Wennvorth,  Henrietta,  317,  348 

Wentworth,  Lord,  15 


Wesley,  John,  145,  233,  250,  475 

Westall,  Richard,  R.A.,  462 

Westminster  Assembly,  70,  78,  79 

Westoning,  78,  136,  139,  148,  215 

Wheeler,  John,  7 

Wheeler,  Joshua,  215 

Wheeler,  Wm.,  102,  161,  170,  196 

Whipsnade,  11 

Whitbread,  Henry,  411 

Whitbread,  Samuel,  92,418,  419.420,480 

Whitbread,  WilUam,  86,  92,  226 

White,  Peter,  2 

\Vhite,  Robert,  310,  398 

Whitehand,  Thomas,  76 

Whiteman,  John,  86,  263,  410 

Whitney's  Emblems,  288 

Whytebred,  Thomas,  26 

Wieland,  469 

Wigfall,  John,  89 

Wilden,  8 

Wilkinson,  Lady  Vere,  383 

Williams,  Baylief,  28 

Willington,  8 

Wilsamstede,  William  of,  24 

Wilson,  John,  212,  242,  399 

Wilstead,  24,  39,  148 

Winch,  Sir  H.,  132 

Winch,  Sir  J.,  194 

Wingate,  John,  43,  74 

Wingate,  Francis,  138— 14o,  167 

Wingate,  Sir  Francis,  145,  329,  416 

Winnifle,  Bishop,  135 

Witton,  William,  72,  73 

Woburn,  6,  7,  111 

Woodward,  Thomas,  147,  300,  410,  418 

Wootton,  44,  50 

Wordsworth,  298 

Works,  Bunvan'u  Collected — 
Doe's  Edition,  1692,  429 
S.  Wilson's  do.,  1730-7.  445 
G.  Whitefield's  do.,  1707,  445 
A.  Hogg's  do.,  1780,  445 
George  Offor's  do.,  1853,  445 
H.  Stebbing's  do.,  1859,  445 

World  to  Come,  The,  447 

AVyatt,  James,  100,  259 

AVylde,  Edmund,  157 

WjTnington,  44 

Yarway,  Mr.,  44 

Yelden,   15,  71,  78,  80,  102,  107,   124, 
125,  131, 196 

Zoar  Street  Chapel,  Southwark,  386 
Zumbini,  Bonaventura,  292 


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